Gaza Health Ministry: Palestinian death toll passes 42,000

The number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the Gaza war over a year ago has risen to 42,010, according to figures released by the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza on Wednesday.

A further 97,720 Palestinians have been injured since October 7, 2023, the ministry said.

The figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters and cannot be independently verified, but international organizations such as the United Nations consider them to be largely credible.

Palestinian reports say many people have been killed and injured in recent Israeli military operations in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The advances were reportedly primarily directed at the Shejaiya district in Gaza City and the refugee settlements of Jabalia and Nuseirat.

Palestinian rescue workers described the attacks as extremely intense, saying that in most cases they could not reach the injured due to the heavy fighting.

Hospital doctors said that nine members of one family were killed in a single Israeli airstrike on a residential building. The information could not be independently confirmed and the Israeli military has not yet commented on the incident.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented attack on southern Israel by the Islamist group Hamas and its allies on October 7, 2023. Members of the militia and other gunmen killed over 1,200 people and abducted around 250 more into the Gaza Strip.

Since then, Israel has been waging a war in an attempt to destroy Hamas both as a military formation and political organization.