GAZA – The Health Ministry in Gaza said on Thursday that the Palestinian death toll from nearly nine months of war has surged past 38,000.
The ministry said that in the last 24 hours, the bodies of 58 people had been brought to hospitals, bringing the overall death toll to 38,011, the Associated Press reported.
It said more than 87,000 people have been wounded in the fighting.
The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and noncombatants in its count, but many of the dead are said to be women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led group launched a surprise attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel, attacking multiple army bases and farming communities and killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. They abducted another 250 people, more than 100 of whom were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November. Hamas is still holding around 80 hostages and the remains of 40 others.
Israel launched a major offensive in response to the Oct. 7 attack that has killed more than 37,900 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza, who don’t say how many were civilians or militants.
The war has caused vast destruction across the territory, displaced most of its population of 2.3 million — often multiple times — caused widespread hunger and raised fears of famine.
C. Ashraq Al-Awsat
