GAZA STRIP (AP) – More than 45,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas militants, health officials in the embattled territory said, as often-stalled ceasefire negotiations appeared to be gaining ground.
Qatar, Egypt and the United States (US) have renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire deal in recent days, and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he believed negotiators are closer to a deal than at any time since the only previous truce, a week-long pause in November 2023 that saw 105 hostages released.
“We all estimate that an opportunity is being created following Hamas’ need to become more flexible, and I really hope we can advance to a practical stage in this process,” Katz said ahead of a closed-door session of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire late last month.
Palestinian health officials updated the Gaza death toll to 45,028. They said 106,962 others have been wounded since the war began, and warned that the true toll is higher because thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or in areas that medics cannot access.
The ministry’s count does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but it has said more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military said it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Meanwhile, more than 50 dead were brought to hospitals across the bombed-out territory over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.
Among the latest killed were 10 people, including a family of four, in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City’s eastern Shijaiyah neighbourhood, Palestinian medics said.
Israel blamed Hamas for the civilian death toll because it operates from within civilian areas, but rights groups said Israel has failed to take precautions to avoid civilian deaths.
