GAZA/ISTANBUL, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, has surpassed 65,000, Gaza-based health authorities reported Wednesday.

Over the past 24 hours, 98 bodies and 385 wounded were brought to hospitals in Gaza, they said, adding that seven aid workers were killed and 87 others injured in the same period.

The total death toll of Palestinians since the start of the conflict in 2023 has climbed to 65,062, with 165,697 others injured, they said.

Four people died in the past 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, raising the death toll linked to food shortages to 432, including 146 children, they added.

The update came after Israel began its ground offensive in Gaza City early Tuesday and forced thousands more Palestinians to flee the enclave's largest urban center. The assault met immediate and fierce global condemnation.

Given the new death toll, Baris Adibelli, an academic at Türkiye's Kutahya Dumlupinar University, said Palestinian civilians are "effectively given only two choices: flee or face death."

"Israel's actions in Lebanon, Palestine, its 12-day war with Iran, and growing influence in Syria have already left the region highly unstable, and this new offensive will worsen tensions," said Baris Doster, an academic at Istanbul-based Marmara University, warning that Israel's assault on Gaza City threatens to further destabilize the region.