Source : Perth Now news
The Palestinian death toll from the almost three-year Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 74,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
While a ceasefire that took effect on October 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued in what the military has said are responses to threats or attacks.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said almost 700 people in Yemen have been killed since an escalation in August and more than 130,000 people have been displaced.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Saturday the Palestinian death toll had risen to 74,016 people, with 175,068 wounded.
The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, killing some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage.
Since the ceasefire, 1145 Palestinians have been killed, said the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government.
It maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by United Nations agencies and international organisations.
It does not distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up about half the toll.
An Israeli strike in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip killed one person and wounded three others, Palestinian health officials said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, seven Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.
Other aspects of the US-brokered ceasefire remain largely stalled.
Israeli forces now control more than half of the Palestinian territory, Hamas has not disarmed, a new Palestinian government has not arrived and reconstruction has not yet begun.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas disarms.
In Israel, members of leading Jewish opposition parties have met and promised to join efforts to beat Netanyahu’s coalition in October’s “critical elections”.
The parties have been criticised for infighting.
The vote, the first since the October 7, 2023, attacks, is largely seen as a referendum on the security failures that led to the attacks.
The meeting was attended by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief seen as Netanyahu’s main challenger; Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, two former prime ministers running together; Yair Golan, head of the centre-left party, and Avigdor Lieberman, who heads a hawkish opposition party.
They said they would work together to increase turnout, “combat fake news and smear campaigns”, and to formulate the basic principles of the next government.
“We recognise that these elections are critical to the future of the state,” they said in a joint statement.
