Gaza Well being Ministry says over 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel-Hamas conflict

Estimated learn time: 4-5
minutes

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israel’s assault in Gaza has killed greater than 29,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, the territory’s Well being Ministry stated Monday, marking one other grim milestone in one of many deadliest and most damaging army campaigns in current historical past.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to proceed the offensive till “complete victory” towards Hamas after the militants’ Oct. 7 assault on Israeli communities. He and the army have stated troops will transfer quickly into the southernmost city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, the place over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million individuals have sought refuge from preventing elsewhere.

America, Israel’s high ally, says it’s nonetheless working with mediators Egypt and Qatar to attempt to dealer one other cease-fire and hostage launch settlement. However these efforts seem to have stalled in current days, and Netanyahu angered Qatar by calling on it to strain Hamas and suggesting it funds the militant group.

The battle has additionally introduced close to each day exchanges of fireside between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group that continuously threaten to escalate.

Israeli warplanes on Monday carried out not less than two strikes close to the southern port metropolis of Sidon in one of many largest assaults close to a significant metropolis, Lebanese state media stated. There was no rapid phrase on casualties. The Israeli army stated it attacked Hezbollah arms depots close to Sidon in retaliation for a drone that exploded in an open subject close to the northern Israeli metropolis of Tiberias earlier Monday.

In Gaza, the Well being Ministry stated the loss of life toll had risen to 29,092 because the begin of the conflict, round two-thirds of them ladies and kids. Greater than 69,000 Palestinians have been wounded, overwhelming the territory’s hospitals, lower than half of that are even partially functioning.

The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its rely. The Well being Ministry is a part of the Hamas-run authorities in Gaza however maintains detailed data of casualties. Its figures from earlier wars in Gaza have largely matched these of U.N. businesses, unbiased consultants and Israel’s personal tallies.

<!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>

The conflict started when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 individuals, largely civilians, and taking round 250 males, ladies and kids hostage. After a spherical of exchanges for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel in November, round 130 stay captive, a fourth of them believed to be lifeless.

The Israeli army launched a video on Monday exhibiting what’s believed to be the youngest hostage, his brother and mom being led via the streets of the southern Gaza metropolis of Khan Younis quickly after their kidnapping on Oct. 7.

The video offers proof that Shiri Bibas and her two younger boys, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, who was 9 months previous on the time, survived the preliminary kidnapping. The boys are the one kids who stay in captivity, together with their mom.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the army’s chief spokesman, stated the military is “very involved” concerning the household’s well-being. He stated the military discovered the movies in safety cameras seized throughout its offensive in Khan Younis.

The video seems to indicate Bibas, wrapped in a blanket, being led via a dust avenue by her captors as she carries Ariel. The army stated it believed that Kfir was in a child sling and couldn’t be seen beneath the blanket.

The toddler with purple hair and a toothless smile has develop into an emblem throughout Israel for the helplessness and anger over the hostages nonetheless held in Gaza. Their father, Yarden Bibas, can be nonetheless in captivity.

In a press release, the prolonged Bibas household stated the movies “tear our hearts out.” They made a determined plea for negotiations to launch all the hostages. In January, the household and a whole lot of activists marked Kfir’s first birthday in what his household referred to as “the saddest party on this planet.”

Israel says it has killed over 10,000 Palestinian militants however has offered no proof for its rely. The army says it tries to keep away from harming civilians and blames the excessive loss of life toll on Hamas as a result of the militant group fights in dense residential neighborhoods. The army says 236 of its troopers have been killed because the begin of the bottom offensive in late October.

On Sunday, Benny Gantz, a member of Netanyahu’s three-man Warfare Cupboard, warned that the offensive would increase to Rafah if the hostages aren’t freed by the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, anticipated round March 10.

Israel has stated it’s growing plans to evacuate civilians from Rafah, but it surely’s not clear the place they’d go within the devastated territory, massive areas of which have been flattened. Egypt has sealed the border and warned that any mass inflow of Palestinians may threaten its decades-old peace treaty with Israel.

Already, the conflict has pushed round 80% of the Palestinians in Gaza from their properties and has left 1 / 4 of the inhabitants ravenous, based on U.N. officers.

America says it’s nonetheless pushing for a truce and hostage-release and that it could veto a U.N. Safety Council decision calling for a right away cease-fire as a result of it conflicts with these efforts.

Images

Most up-to-date Israel-Hamas tales