Balance of the war in the Gaza Strip. The death toll exceeded 68,000. and… it's still growing

The number of Palestinian victims of Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 68,000. the territory's health ministry said on Saturday. Although a ceasefire continues, Hamas accuses Israel of continuing attacks. Medical authorities also include the bodies recovered from the rubble in the death toll.

The number of injured Palestinians since the beginning of the war has exceeded 170,000.

According to the ministry's Saturday statement, since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, 27 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, 143 Palestinians have died from wounds, and 404 bodies have been recovered.

Gaza's civil defense reported that nine people, including women and children, were killed in Israeli shelling of a bus near Gaza City on Friday. According to Palestinian authorities, the vehicle entered Israeli-controlled areas, but soldiers could have warned the vehicle in a way that would not have resulted in the deaths of the passengers. The Israeli army said that warning shots were first fired at the “suspicious vehicle,” but the car continued to approach “which posed an immediate threat.”

In accordance with the ceasefire agreement, Israeli troops withdrew to the so-called yellow line and currently control about half of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian side reports deadly attacks almost every day. The army responds that these people were approaching Israeli positions and posed a threat.

The Gaza Strip health ministry does not distinguish between civilian and combat casualties in its tally. The latest announcements do not provide the number of women and children killed, but earlier reports stated that this group constituted nearly half of the fatalities.

This data is generally considered reliable. This is how they are treated, among others, by: UN institutions. Balance sheets collected during previous conflicts generally matched those reported by independent institutions. Israeli authorities emphasize that the ministry is part of the Hamas-controlled civilian government of the territory.

Saturday's health ministry news also said Israel has so far handed over 135 bodies of dead Palestinians.

According to the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas was to release the bodies of 28 killed hostages by October 13. He has donated ten bodies so far. According to the agreement, Israel was to hand over the remains of 15 dead Palestinians for each kidnapped person.

As part of the first stage of the agreement negotiated with the participation of the US and Arab states, Hamas also released the last 20 living hostages on October 13, and Israel released nearly 2,000 detained Palestinians.

The delay in releasing the bodies of the hostages is a source of tension over the agreement. Israeli authorities accuse the group of not handing over more bodies, even though it knows their location. Hamas declares that it wants to return the remains, but is having technical difficulties in extracting them.

U.S. officials have said in recent days that they believe Hamas is sticking to the deal and wants to return the bodies, but is hampered by the destruction in Gaza.

Jerzy Adamiak (PAP)

adj/ap/