Over 70% of Gaza’s residents face extreme hunger: Rights group

Seventy-one percent of the population in Gaza faces extreme hunger as they continue to endure relentless Israeli attacks, said a study released Tuesday by the rights group Euro-Med Monitor.

According to the study's findings, which included a sample of 1,200 people in Gaza, 98% of the respondents said they eat insufficient amounts of food, while 64% admitted to eating grass, fruits, immature food and expired materials to satiate their hunger.

The study also found that the rate of access to water in Gaza, including drinking, bathing and cleaning water, is down to 1.5 liters per person per day.

"This is 15 liters less than the minimum amount of water required for survival at the level required by international standards," it stressed, adding that 66% of the respondents reported having experienced diarrhea, skin rashes or intestinal diseases in the past month.

Israel's air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas have killed at least 19,667 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 52,586, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The war has left Gaza in ruins, with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 hostages remain in captivity.