RAFAH: More than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the territory’s Health Ministry said Monday, marking another grim milestone in the deadliest round of violence in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until “total victory” against Hamas, raising fears that troops will soon move into the southernmost town of Rafah on the Egyptian border, where over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
On Sunday, Benny Gantz, a retired general and a member of Netanyahu’s three-man War Cabinet, warned that the offensive would expand to Rafah if the hostages were not freed by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin around March 10.
The holy month of dawn-to-dusk fasting is often a time of heightened tensions in the region.
The Health Ministry said 107 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours. That brings the total number of fatalities to 29,092 since the start of the war. It says over 69,000 Palestinians have been wounded.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its records but says around two-thirds of those killed were women and children. The Health Ministry is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza but maintains detailed records of casualties.
Its figures from previous wars in Gaza have largely matched those of UN agencies, independent experts, and even Israel’s own tallies.