Dubai: More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war, according to data with the Gaza Health Ministry.
While a ceasefire that took effect last October 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued in what the military has said are responses to threats or attacks.
Gaza's Health Ministry on Saturday said the Palestinian death toll has risen to 74,016 people, with 175,068 wounded. The war erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage.
Since the ceasefire, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed, said the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government. It maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by UN agencies and international organisations. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants, but says women and children make up around half the toll.
Meanwhile, seven Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.
Other aspects of the US-brokered ceasefire remain largely stalled. Israeli forces now control over half of the Palestinian territory, Hamas has not disarmed, a new Palestinian government has not arrived and reconstruction has not yet begun.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli forces will not withdraw until Hamas disarms.
Meanwhile, Israel's leading Jewish opposition parties promised to join efforts to beat Netanyahu's coalition in next month's “critical elections,” in a statement Saturday evening. The parties have been criticised for infighting.
The vote, the first since the October 7, 2023, attacks, is largely seen as a referendum on the security failures that led to the attacks.
The meeting was attended by Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief seen as Netanyahu's main challenger; Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, two former prime ministers running together; Yair Golan, head of the centre-left party, and Avigdor Lieberman, who heads a hawkish opposition party.
They said they would work together to increase turnout, “combat fake news and smear campaigns” and to formulate the basic principles of the next government.
“We recognise that these elections are critical to the future of the state,” the joint statement said.