The Health Ministry in Gaza has said that Israeli forces killed at least 498 health personnel and medical specialists and detained at least 310 others since Israel’s invasion of Gaza began, Al Jazeera reports.

In a report, the ministry said only 16 hospitals remain partially operational while 64 health centres out of a total of 90 are out of service with more than 130 ambulances destroyed.

The total number of requests for treatment abroad reached 25,000, but the number of those who were approved to travel was only 6,645, the ministry said. Only 4,895 of those have actually been able to make the journey out of the Gaza Strip. The Rafah crossing, which the Israeli army seized and closed in May, remains shut.

The ministry added that 1.5 million infectious diseases have been recorded since Israel began its onslaught on Gaza.