Gaza Health Ministry says more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in war
Gaza said on Thursday that more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out more than three weeks ago. Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, a ministry spokesperson, said 9,061 people have been killed in Gaza, including 3,760 who are under 18.
More than 1,400 people have been killed on the Israeli side, the vast majority of civilians killed by Hamas in its bloody October 7 incursion into Israel.
The Health Ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but includes doctors and veteran civil servants who are not affiliated with the group. Its tolls from previous wars have held up to UN scrutiny, independent investigations and even Israel's tallies.
Israel's ground troops advanced toward Gaza City on Thursday, as the US and Arab countries intensified diplomatic efforts to ease the siege of the Hamas-ruled enclave and bring about at least a brief stop to the fighting to help civilians.
President Joe Biden suggested a humanitarian «pause» the day before, as an apparent agreement among the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, allowed hundreds of Palestinians with foreign passports and dozens of wounded to leave Gaza for the first time. Dozens more left on Thursday.
Arab countries, including those allied with the US and at peace with Israel, have expressed mounting unease with the war. Jordan recalled its ambassador from Israel and told Israel's envoy to remain out of the country until there's a halt to the war and the «humanitarian catastrophe» it is causing.
More than 3,600 Palestinian children have been killed in 25 days of fighting, and bombings have driven more than half the territory's 2.3 million people from their homes, while food, water and fuel run low.
