Gaza war deaths top 46,000 with 70 more killed in 24 hours

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Thursday that 70 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 46,006.

The ministry also said in a statement that at least 109,378 people had been wounded in more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack.

Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces pounded the Palestinian territory on Thursday, killing at least 12 people including three girls, 15 months into the war.

The latest strikes came as Qatar, Egypt, and the United States mediate negotiations in Doha between Israel and Hamas militants for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of hostages.

Three girls and their father were killed when an air strike hit their house in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the civil defence agency reported.

Local paramedic Mahmud Awad said he helped transfer the bodies of two girls and their father, Mahmud Abu Kharuf to a hospital.

“Their bodies were found under the rubble of the house that the occupation bombed in the Nuseirat camp,” Awad told AFP. He added that the body of the third girl had been found earlier by residents.

In a separate strike, eight people were killed when their house was struck in the town of Jabalia in northern Gaza, where the army has focused its offensive since October 6.

Several more were wounded in that strike, the civil defence agency said.

Israeli air strikes and shelling continues across Gaza, even as mediators push on with their efforts to halt the fighting and secure a deal for the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Paris that a ceasefire was “very close”.

“I hope that we can get it over the line in the time that we have,” Blinken said, referring to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

But if not, “I believe that when we get that deal - and we’ll get it - it’ll be on the basis of the plan that President (Joe) Biden put before the world back in May.”

In May, Biden unveiled a three-phase plan for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.