Over 30,000 Palestinians killed in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza: Gaza health ministry

At least 30,035 Palestinians have been killed and 70,457 wounded in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The war between Israel and Hamas has been going on for nearly five months with the death toll updated on Thursday.

The latest figures do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants and have not been independently verified.

Meanwhile, mediators say a truce deal between Israel and Hamas could be just days away, as aid agencies sound the alarm of a looming famine in Gaza’s north.

The latest overall toll for Palestinians killed in the war came after at least 79 people died overnight across the Gaza Strip, the health ministry said.

The war started after the 7 October attacks by Hamas, in which 1,200 people were killed and another 200 were taken hostage.

Meanwhile, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday said war crimes had been committed by all parties in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, calling for them to be investigated and for those responsible to be held accountable, reports Reuters.

“Clear violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws, including war crimes and possibly other crimes under international law, have been committed by all parties,” Turk told the UN human rights council in Geneva. “It is time – well past time – for peace, investigation and accountability,” he added.

Türk, who was presenting a report on the human rights situation in Gaza and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said his office had recorded “many incidents that may amount to war crimes by Israeli forces”.

He said there were also indications that Israeli forces have engaged in “indiscriminate or disproportionate targeting” in violation of international law. Israel has said it is doing all it can to minimise harm to civilians.

Türk said Palestinian armed groups launching indiscriminate projectiles across southern Israel and the holding of hostages also violated international humanitarian law.

Last month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians, although it stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.

Türk said the prospect of an Israeli ground assault in the southern border town of Rafah, where 1.5 million people are estimated to be crammed after fleeing their homes further north to escape Israel’s offensive, “would take the nightmare being inflicted on people in Gaza into a new, dystopian, dimension.”

“For my part, I fail to see how such an operation could be consistent with the binding provisional measures issued by the ICJ,” he said. Türk added that such a ground offensive would incur massive loss of life, increase the risk of atrocity crimes, spur more displacement and “sign a death warrant for any hope of effective humanitarian aid”.