(Dan Tri) – More than 30,000 people have died in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October 2023, marking a bleak milestone in a war context that shows no signs of abating.
Fighting in Gaza has claimed the lives of many innocent civilians (Photo: Getty).
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, this towering death toll underscores the horrific months-long ordeal of Palestinians in the strip, which included Israeli aerial bombing campaigns and ground attacks.
In the latest information released on February 29, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said that at least 70 people were killed when Israel attacked a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City.
However, according to Reuters, an Israeli military spokesman said there was no information about any shelling by Tel Aviv there when asked about Palestinian casualties near Gaza City.
Currently, the international community is increasing pressure on Israel to stop fighting because of concerns that there will be other fierce attacks in the southern city of Rafah.
But their campaign in Gaza still receives support from the United States, Tel Aviv’s key ally and largest military aid provider.
The US proposed a `temporary ceasefire` at the United Nations earlier this month, but vetoed calls for an immediate end to the conflict.
This number clearly shows the concern for Rafah, where more than 1 million people are crowded and where Israel is expected to launch a new attack.
In recent updates, Gaza’s health ministry said about 70% of the casualties were women and children.
Israel estimates that about 10,000 members of the Hamas force have been killed since October 7, when Tel Aviv declared war on the group.
It was not possible to independently verify the number of casualties in Gaza or Israel’s estimate of the number of Hamas members killed.
Nearly five months have passed, Israel says more than 100 hostages are still being held.
Israeli War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz recently warned that Israeli forces would expand military operations in Rafah if the hostages were not returned during Ramadan, expected to begin on March 10 or 11.
`The world must know and the leaders of Hamas must know – if by Ramadan our hostages are not returned home – fighting will continue in the Rafah area,` Minister Gantz said at the meeting.
Israel’s Western allies are increasingly concerned about the nature of its bombing and ground campaigns in Gaza, with even Tel Aviv’s most important partner, Washington, increasingly frequently raising concerns about the plight of millions of people.
US President Joe Biden said earlier this month that the behavior of the Israel Defense Forces was `excessive`, the leader’s most direct rebuke to date.
President Biden later told Prime Minister Netanyahu that military action in Rafah `should not proceed without a credible and workable plan to ensure the safety and support of civilians,`
And the United States later proposed a United Nations resolution for a `temporary ceasefire,` despite not supporting other countries’ calls for an immediate ceasefire.
In addition to displacing most of Gaza’s 2.2 million people, Gaza’s fighting has also dramatically reduced water, electricity and food supplies, and cut off access to health care services.
`Just one step away from famine`
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCH) said on February 29 that at least 576,000 people across Gaza are `facing catastrophic levels of deprivation and hunger` and `only one person remains.`
According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), almost the entire population of 2.2 million people need food aid, with 1 in 6 children under 2 years old suffering from severe malnutrition.
`Gaza is witnessing the worst levels of child malnutrition anywhere in the world,` WFP Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said at the United Nations Security Council on February 27.
In recent weeks, hopes for a hostage truce have waxed and waned, as decisive diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire continued.
President Biden said he hoped there would be a ceasefire by `next Monday,` saying a deal was close but not yet done.
