More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza health officials say
The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 55,000, the
Gaza Health Ministry
said on Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office meanwhile said that Israel's forces recovered the remains of two additional hostages held in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on southern Israel that launched the war in Gaza.
The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but has said that women and children make up more than half the 55,000 dead. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, because they operate in populated areas.
The ministry says 55,104 people have been killed since the start of the war and 1,27,394 wounded. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics.
The Health Ministry is part of Gaza's Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records. Its tolls from previous conflicts have largely aligned with those of independent experts, though Israel has questioned the ministry's figures.
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Netanayu's office identified the remains of one of the hostages recovered on Wednesday as Yair Yaakov, who was killed during the October 7, 2023 attack. The identity of the second hostage whose body was recovered was not immediately disclosed.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the bodies were retrieved in a "complex" operation without disclosing details.
Israeli forces have destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced about 90 per cent of its population and in recent weeks have transformed more than half of the coastal territory into a military buffer zone that includes the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah.
A two-and-a-half month blockade imposed by Israel when it ended a ceasefire with Hamas raised fears of famine and was slightly eased in May. The launch of a new Israeli- and US-backed aid system has been marred by chaos and violence, and the UN says it has struggled to bring in food because of Israeli restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting.
Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, but the UN and aid groups deny there is any systematic diversion of aid to militants.
Hamas has suffered major setbacks militarily, and Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The militants still hold 53 hostages - less than half of them believed to be alive - and control areas outside of military zones despite facing rare protests earlier this year.
The war began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. More than half the captives have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and recovered the remains of dozens more.
Israel's military campaign, one of the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, has transformed large parts of cities into mounds of rubble. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in squalid tent camps and unused schools, and the health system has been gutted, even as it copes with waves of wounded from Israeli strikes.
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal. It has offered to hand over power to a politically independent Palestinian committee.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying that Israel will only agree to temporary ceasefires to facilitate the return of hostages. He has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile.
Netanyahu says Israel will control Gaza indefinitely and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population to other countries. The Palestinians and most of the international community reject such plans, viewing them as forcible expulsion that could violate international law. (
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