A woman carries a placard at a protest outside the Israeli government complex as the cabinet approved a no-confidence vote against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, on Sunday, March 23, 2024. Protesters called for PM Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the hostages home and to not fire Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo
The death toll in Gaza has passed the 50,000 mark as Israel expanded its fighting in the Palestinian enclave on Sunday.
The Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement that 50,021 people have died and another 113,274 people have been injured since the fighting between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, 2023. Advertisement
The death toll had risen by 41 people in the last 24 hours alone, with 673 people killed since hostilities resumed on March 18.
The Gaza Health Ministry is urging the families of people who have been killed to complete official forms registering their deaths to ensure accurate tracking by the agency. The agency is also tracking people who are reported missing amid the war.
The ministry recently launched a detailed public dashboard on its website to track data related to war casualties. The dashboard lets users break down the number of children dead by age group, revealing, for example, that 876 infants under the age of 1 have been reported to have been killed. Advertisement
The dashboard also tracks damage to health facilities, showing that 31 buildings have been completely destroyed. And it reports that 1,393 of the ministry’s health staff have been killed and another 360 detained by Israeli forces throughout the war.
“In response to the urgent need to enhance transparency and facilitate access to accurate data, the updated platform provides comprehensive databases that include the medical and legal details of each case, with the ability to follow up on updates in real time,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli Defense Forces said Sunday that it had ordered evacuations from southern Gaza as it resumed air strikes on “several targets and terrorist infrastructure,” weeks after Palestinians had started returning home. The IDF said it had seized more Palestinian territory in northern Gaza “to expand the security area.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Sunday on social media that it has four ambulances trapped in Rafah that it is seeking to rescue. It added that several of its paramedics have been injured and the agency has not been in communication with them.
Ahmad Kullab told NPR that while fleeing Tel al-Sultan near Rafah he witnessed shelling in his neighborhood Saturday night. Advertisement
“The Israelis started to shoot at us as we were going out through the safe zone,” he said. “Tanks are now advancing towards us, firing rounds and causing chaos in the streets.”
At the Khan Younis hospital, a woman who fled Tel al Sultan with her family told NPR hat an Israeli airstrike killed her husband and daughter.
“A rocket fell right in between us,” she said. “Their bodies shattered in front of my eyes.”
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in an interview on Sunday blamed Hamas for the latest attacks in Gaza, saying that “Hamas had every opportunity to demilitarize and accept the bridging proposal, but they elected not to.”
The bridging proposal, offered earlier this month, would amend a previously signed ceasefire deal reached in January.
The proposal would extend the first phase of the ceasefire until after Ramadan and Passover, rather than moving directly into the second phase, which would move to permanently end the war in exchange for the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza.
The first phase of the ceasefire expired on March 1 and negotiations for the second phase reached a standstill, leading to the bridging proposal. Hamas has not agreed to the extension. Advertisement
