Since Israel began its military campaign in Gaza almost a month ago, more than 10,000 people have died there, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave, which is controlled by Hamas.
Following a violent attack by the Islamist militant group on October 7, which resulted in 1,400 Israeli deaths and more than 240 kidnappings, Israel declared war against Hamas. Israel threatened to destroy the militant organization and responded by attacking Gaza from the air and on the ground.
10,022 Palestinians in the enclave—including 4,104 children, 2,641 women, and 611 elderly people—had been killed by Israeli strikes, according to ministry spokesman Ashraf Al Qudra. These figures imply that vulnerable populations account for almost 75% of the fatalities. 25,408 injuries were also reported by the ministry.
The exact number of combatants in the total is unknown. The figures provided by the ministry in Gaza, which is mostly closed off by Egypt and closed off by Israel, cannot be independently
According to the media office of the hospital, over a hundred people died at Al-Aqsa Martyrs in central Gaza on Monday alone following a day of intense Israeli shelling.
John Kirby, the White House National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, said reporters during a virtual gaggle on Monday that “many, many thousands of innocent people killed” had occurred in Gaza.
Thousands more Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the last month than those who died in conflicts with Israel spanning over the last 15 years.
The United Nations Human Rights Office said last week’s attacks on Gaza’s largest refugee camp “could amount to war crimes” given the scale of casualties and destruction.
Israel has said that it is targeting Hamas operatives in Gaza, adding that Hamas “intentionally embeds its assets in civilian areas” and uses civilians as human shields, a defense echoed by US officials.
In an interview that aired on ABC News Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he expected Israel to have the “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the war ends.
