Israeli forces have killed more than 64.000 people in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, which means that the death toll is underestimated by 41 percent, according to a study published in the medical journal The Lancet.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tracked the number of deaths from traumatic injuries from October last year to the end of June 2024 and found that the majority of the 64.260 deaths (59 per cent) were women, children and the elderly.
The authors said that the total number of victims is even higher because deaths resulting from health care disorders, food insecurity, and inadequate water and sanitation are not included.
The researchers based their estimate on analyzes of morgue data, online surveys and social media obituaries.
According to the study, the data of the Ministry of Health in Gaza is an accurate minimum estimate of the balance of victims, but it is still likely that the number of deaths is underreported.
Officials reported 37.877 victims by the end of June, and now that number has exceeded 46.000, according to this week's ministry data.
The information in the British medical journal was published at a time when more and more legal experts and non-governmental organizations are accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected as "incorrect and outrageous", writes the Brussels portal Politiko.
In December, Amnesty International accused Israel of treating the Palestinians as a subhuman group and warned that countries that supply arms to the country, including the US and Germany, are failing to fulfill their obligation to prevent genocide.
Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip in October 2023 in retaliation for an attack by Hamas extremists that killed around 1.200 people, mostly civilians. The offensive paralyzed Hamas, the top commanders of that Islamist organization were killed and large parts of the Palestinian enclave were destroyed.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant in November, accusing them of complicity in crimes against humanity in Gaza.
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At least two people were killed and two were wounded in today's Israeli attack on the city of Tayr Deba in the south of Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced, reports Reuters.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has demanded that the Israeli military present a plan for the "decisive defeat" of the Palestinian movement Hamas if hostages are not released from the Gaza Strip before Donald Trump takes office as US president.
In the announcement of Katz's cabinet, it is written that during the high-level meeting, it was emphasized that the release of the hostages remains a top priority for the Israeli security establishment, Israeli media reported today.
The meeting was attended, among others, by the Chief of the General Staff of Israel, Lt. Col. Herzi Halevi.
"We cannot allow ourselves to be drawn into a long war of attrition while the hostages are in the Hamas tunnels, their lives are in danger and they are suffering greatly," Kac said.
He instructed the military to list potential obstacles to the implementation of the plan, including humanitarian concerns, and to leave key decisions to the political echelon.
Katz dismissed discussions of a political solution for Gaza, saying that no Arab or international actor would assume responsibility for civilian governance of Gaza unless there is a complete collapse of Hamas.
"Our commanders and soldiers are fighting a heroic battle, but we must adopt a strategy to achieve a decisive military victory and end the war in Gaza," Israel's defense minister said.
The proposed total defeat of Hamas would center on the destruction of the Islamist organization's remaining military units concentrated in Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where most of the hostages are believed to be held.
The Israeli army refrained from major operations in these areas so as not to injure the hostages. Such a decision was made with the approval of the Israeli political leadership.
Katz is against a long war, the toll of which would be heavy, and a strategic victory would not be achieved.
"We must not agree to a war of attrition that would cost us a lot and would not result in victory and the decisive defeat of Hamas," Kac said.
In recent weeks, Israel and Hamas appear to have moved closer to an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Palestinians and families of hostages are appealing to world leaders and the Hamas government to reach a ceasefire agreement.
The number of dead Palestinians in Gaza in more than 15 months of war exceeded 46.000, mostly women and children, and around 109.000 were wounded.
Israel says more than 17.000 extremists have been killed, but provides no evidence for this, the Associated Press reports.
The war began after the attack of Palestinian extremists led by Hamas on the south of Israel on October 7, 2023.
In that attack, around 1.200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza.
About 100 are still being held in the Palestinian enclave, but the Israeli army said a third are no longer alive.
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The Israeli military confirmed today that one of the bodies returned from Gaza earlier this Sunday was that of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah Al Zayadin.
His body was returned along with the remains of his father Jose Al Zayedin, who were abducted together when Hamas militants invaded southern Israel 15 months ago.
The father's body was quickly identified, while the son's remains were sent for examination.
The Israeli army said earlier that its forces retrieved the bodies of Hamza and his father from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area and returned them to Israel. Prior to this announcement, it was believed that the father and son were still alive. They were kidnapped together from Kibbutz Holit, when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
In recent weeks, Israel and Hamas appear to be slowly moving closer to an agreement on a ceasefire and the release of hostages. Palestinians and family members of hostages killed in captivity are calling on the Israeli government and world leaders to reach a ceasefire agreement.
The Health Ministry of Hamas announced yesterday that 46.006 Plestinians have been killed and 109.378 wounded since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, while the end of the war is not in sight.
The war began when Hamas militants invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1.200 people and kidnapping about 250. Israel says about a third of the remaining 100 hostages in Gaza are dead, but believes it is possible that as many as half died.
The Israeli army says it killed more than 17.000 militants during the war, and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because "militants operate in residential neighborhoods." In Israeli air and ground operations, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee and shelter along the coast in tent camps.
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