‘Death toll from Gaza war surpasses 70,000’

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza on Saturday said more than 70,000 people have been killed since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted more than two years ago.

The milestone comes as a fragile US-brokered ceasefire largely holds, but with both sides accusing the other of violating the terms of the deal.

In a statement, Gaza’s health ministry said the death toll from the war had risen to 70,100.

The ministry said that since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, 354 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire.

Two bodies arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, the ministry said, one of which had been recovered from beneath the rubble.

It noted that the spike in the last death toll was because the data relating to 299 bodies had been processed and approved by the authorities.

Despite the ceasefire, the Palestinian territory remains in a deep humanitarian crisis.

The latest toll comes as the United Nations marks the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, on November 29 each year.

“In so many ways, this tragedy has tested the norms and laws that have guided the international community for generations,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

“The killing of so many civilians, the repeated displacement of an entire population and the obstruction of humanitarian aid should never be acceptable under any circumstances,” he continued.

“The recent ceasefire offers a glimmer of hope. It is now vital that all parties respect it fully and work in good faith towards solutions that restore and uphold international law.”

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people.

On that day, militants abducted 251 people into Gaza.

At the start of the latest ceasefire, militants were holding 20 living hostages and the bodies of 28 deceased captives.

Hamas has since released all the living hostages and returned the remains of 26 dead hostages.

In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of dead Palestinians.

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