Gaza City, August 15 (RHC)-- The overall death toll from the Israeli-U.S. campaign of death, destruction and genocide in Gaza has surpassed the grim milestone of 40,000, the Gaza Health Ministry says.

In its most recent detailed report on the dead issued Thursday, the ministry said 40 people had been killed during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths since October 7 to 40,005.  The number of those injured has also topped 92,400.

Civil defense workers say the true toll could be considerably higher given the fact that a large number of bodies remain buried under the rubble of buildings Israel has bombed.

In July, the Lancet, a leading general medical journal, estimated that the death toll could be 186,000 or even more.  The Lancet said the figure includes both direct and indirect deaths from the Israeli campaign and those still buried under the rubble.

Media reports indicate dozens of people were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza in a time span of 24 hours.  The skies of central Gaza and eastern Khan Yunis, according to local reports, were clouded with attack drones, creating a very intimidating atmosphere for people.

Israeli forces have regularly targeted mosques, schools, hospitals and cemeteries, often causing civilian casualties.

In remarks on Thursday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk blamed Israel for the soaring death toll in the besieged Palestinian territory.

"Today marks a grim milestone for the world," Turk said in a statement.

"Most of the dead are women and children.  This unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war."

"The scale of the Israeli military's destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and places of worship is deeply shocking."  Turk said his office had documented "serious violations" of international humanitarian law by the Israeli military.

The entire territory of Gaza is at high risk of famine and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to experience the most severe level of hunger in the next months.

Sanitation systems have been destroyed, leaving pools of sewage and towers of garbage in tent camps packed with displaced families.

The Israeli campaign likely either damaged or destroyed 59% of all structures in Gaza by July 3rd, including 70% of buildings in north Gaza, according to an analysis of satellite data.