Palestinian death toll in Gaza exceeds 40,000 as peace talks renew

Gaza, Aug 16 (IANS) The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has surpassed 40,000, at a time when the Gaza ceasefire talks were set to resume in Qatar.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 40 people and wounded 107 others, bringing the total death toll to 40,005 and injuries to 92,401 since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in early October 2023, Gaza-based health authorities said on Thursday in a statement.

There are still many victims under the rubble and on the roads, with ambulance and civil defence crews unable to reach them, it added.

It took only five-and-a-half months for the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip to rise from 30,000 to 40,000, Xinhua news agency reported.

Large-scale Israeli attacks continued over the past month.

According to Gaza health authorities, an Israeli bombing of a field hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on July 27 resulted in at least 30 Palestinians killed and more than 100 injured.

On August 10, another Israeli bombing targetted a school in Gaza City, killing more than 100 Palestinians and injuring dozens more, according to the authorities.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Thursday that it is continuing operational activity in the Gaza Strip, "eliminating terrorists and dismantling terrorist infrastructure."

Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force dismantled more than 30 Hamas infrastructure sites, including structures rigged with explosives, underground infrastructure, and weapons storage facilities, the IDF added.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage.

The prolonged Hamas-Israel conflict has made the besieged coastal enclave uninhabitable. About 305 square km, nearly 84 per cent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to an update released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Monday.

Since July 4, the UN Human Rights Office has recorded 21 strikes against schools serving as shelters in the Strip, which have resulted in at least 274 fatalities, including women and children, the update said.

Women and girls often spend months without taking a shower, going through several menstrual cycles without washing up, Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said on social media platform X on Thursday.

They have to cut their hair very short due to lice, lack of shampoo, not enough water or combs, and many said they do not feel safe, have no privacy or dignity in overcrowded shelters and displacement sites, Lazzarini added.

As many people pin their hope on Thursday's ceasefire talks in Doha, uncertainty still casts a shadow.

Suhail Hindi, a member of Hamas's Political Bureau, announced on Wednesday that the group will not participate in the ceasefire.

Hindi said that Hamas needed a clear commitment from Israel to adhere to the agreement made on July 2, based on a ceasefire proposal from US President Joe Biden, adding that Hamas is ready to implement the agreement should the commitment be made.

On Sunday, Hamas demanded that ceasefire mediators present a plan to implement the proposal, instead of "going to more rounds of negotiations or new proposals that provide cover for the occupation's aggression".

"Life is tragic. People are trying to adapt, but there is no optimism that this suffering will end anytime soon. Honestly, we are doing everything we can to survive and adapt but the destruction and death everywhere prevent us from doing so," Mohammed Hammad, a Palestinian living in Deir al-Balah, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"We hope to hear good news after the summit held in Doha, but at the same time I fear that the ceasefire efforts will fail, especially since we are approaching a year of war," Hammad said.