More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war on Hamas began nearly two years ago, the health ministry said today.
The ministry reported that 113 people were killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 60,034.
The announcement comes as hopes dim for a ceasefire anytime soon, after talks broke up last week without an agreement.
It also comes amid a deepening starvation crisis in Gaza due to Israeli restrictions on aid, and growing international condemnation of Israel’s conduct in the war.
The war began after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people and saw another roughly 250 people taken hostage.
For context: Authorities in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters when reporting casualty figures, but the health ministry and the United Nations say the majority of deaths are women and children. And the true toll could be much higher, with many thousands believed to still be under the rubble.
Israel does not dispute that a significant number of Palestinian civilians have been killed in its war in Gaza. But it has long argued that figures from the Hamas-controlled health ministry are exaggerated, and that Hamas embeds itself between civilians, using them as “human shields.”
