By WAFAA SHURAFA and FATMA KHALED
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Greater than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed within the Israel-Hamas conflict, Gaza’s Well being Ministry stated Thursday, for ever and ever to the 15-month battle.
The ministry stated a complete of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded. It has stated ladies and kids make up greater than half the fatalities, however doesn’t say how lots of the useless had been fighters or civilians.
The Israeli army says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, with out offering proof. It says it tries to keep away from harming civilians and blames Hamas for his or her deaths as a result of the group operates in residential areas. Israel has additionally repeatedly struck what it claims are fighters hiding in shelters and hospitals, typically killing ladies and kids. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by america, Canada and the European Union.
In current weeks, Israel and Hamas have appeared to inch nearer to an settlement for a ceasefire and the discharge of hostages. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated this week {that a} deal is “very close” and he hopes to finish it earlier than handing over U.S diplomacy to the incoming Trump administration.
However he and different U.S. officers have expressed related optimism on a number of events over the previous yr, solely to see the oblique talks stall.
The conflict started when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 individuals, largely civilians, and abducting round 250. Some 100 hostages are nonetheless inside Gaza. Israeli authorities imagine at the very least a 3rd of them had been killed within the preliminary assault or have died in captivity.
The conflict has flattened giant areas of Gaza and displaced round 90% of its 2.3 million individuals, with many compelled to flee a number of instances. Lots of of 1000’s are packed into sprawling tent camps alongside the coast with restricted entry to meals and different necessities.
“What we are living is not a life. Nobody could bear the situation we’re experiencing for a single day,” Munawar al-Bik, a displaced lady, advised The Related Press in an interview this week.
“We wake up at night to the sounds of men crying, because of the bad situation,” she stated. “The situation is unbearable. We have no energy left: we want it to end today.”
Al-Bik spoke on a dusty street within the southern metropolis of Khan Younis subsequent to a destroyed constructing. Behind her, a sea of makeshift tents stuffed with displaced households stretched into the space.
On Thursday, dozens of individuals took half in funeral prayers outdoors the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital within the central Gaza metropolis of Deir al-Balah for individuals killed in Israeli strikes the day earlier than.
Within the hospital morgue, a person might be seen kneeling and bidding farewell to a relative earlier than slamming a fridge door in an outburst of grief.
Palestinian well being officers stated Israeli airstrikes killed at the very least 9 individuals in Gaza on Wednesday, together with three infants — amongst them a 1-week-old child — and two ladies.
Khaled reported from Cairo.
