Over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 62,000 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, said the Gaza health ministry on Sunday, reported the Associated Press.
Health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said that at least 178 bodies have been brought to Gaza hospitals in the last 24 hours, adding that the dead were mainly women and children.
The war, which started after Palestinian militant group Hamas’ incursion into southern Israel, has continued for more than three months. Hamas had killed 1,200 people in the attack and taken over 200 people hostage, some of whom were released in a prisoner exchange last month.
Israel’s unprecedented air and ground strikes in Gaza have caused a humanitarian crisis in the territory, as nearly 85% of the population has been displaced, aid agencies have said.
On Sunday, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres criticised Israel’s military operation for spreading “mass destruction”, reported The Guardian.
“This is heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable,” Guterres said at a global summit in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. “The Middle East is a tinderbox. We must do all we can to prevent conflict from igniting across the region.”
Israel has rejected calls to halt the strikes as its forces are reportedly advancing to the south of the Gaza strip, where a large section of the displaced population has taken refuge in makeshift camps.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he told United States President Joe Biden that he rejects Hamas demands for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu said that accepting the demands would mean that another Hamas attack “would only be a matter of time”. He also rejected the US’ call for post-war plans, including paving the way to establish a Palestinian state.
Guterres said that Netanyahu’s refusal to accept a two-state solution was “totally unacceptable”.
“The repeated refusal yesterday to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians is totally unacceptable, as I told the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement,” he said.
Israel claims that its offensive is aimed at destroying Hamas’ capabilities and that it has killed 9,000 Hamas fighters. However, Tel Aviv is yet to provide any evidence to back its claim.
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