CNN
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More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war with Hamas began in October, the health ministry in the besieged enclave said Thursday, a bleak milestone that comes amid growing international pressure on Israel to halt fighting and fears of further bloodshed in the southern city of Rafah.
The towering figure underscores a horrific, months-long ordeal for Palestinians inside the strip, during which Israel’s bombing and ground campaigns have displaced the vast majority of the population and created a dire humanitarian crisis.
In all, 30,035 people have been killed so far, the ministry said Thursday, adding that the number of injured is over 70,000.
Israel is facing mounting pressure globally to halt the conflict, but its campaign in Gaza has retained the support of the United States, its key ally and largest supplier of military aid. The US proposed a “temporary ceasefire” at the United Nations earlier this month, but has vetoed calls for an immediate halt in the conflict.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said Thursday “there appears to be no bounds, no words, to capture the horrors that are unfolding before our eyes in Gaza.”
What is happening in Gaza is “carnage” Turk said, speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. “It is time – well past time – for peace, investigation and accountability,” Turk said.
The latest milestone preludes fears of more suffering in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city where more than 1 million people are crammed, and where Israel is expected to launch a fresh offensive.
Gaza’s health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but has said in recent updates that around 70% of the casualties are women and children.
Belal Khaled/Anadolu/Getty Images
Gaza’s health ministry said that, in addition to 30,035 deaths, more than 70,000 people have been injured since October 7.
Israel estimates about 10,000 Hamas fighters have been killed since October 7, when Israel declared war on the militant group. More than 1,200 people in Israel were killed during Hamas’ attacks on that day, and more than 250 were kidnapped and taken hostage in Gaza.
CNN cannot independently verify the casualty tolls in Gaza or the Israeli estimates of Hamas fighters killed.
On Thursday, soon after the latest death toll figures were published, at least 53 people died and 120 were injured in Israeli gunfire in Gaza City as they were waiting for food, according to several eyewitnesses and the spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, Ahmad Abu Al Foul.
Hungry civilians had swarmed around newly arrived aid trucks in the hope to get food, when Israeli tanks and drones started shooting at the people in Haroun Al Rasheed Street in western Gaza City, in the Sheikh Ajleen area.
The aid trucks tried to escape the area, accidentally ramming others and causing further deaths and injuries, the eyewitnesses added to CNN. Responding to CNN, the IDF said “the incident is under review”.
“Early this morning, during the entry of humanitarian aid trucks into the northern Gaza Strip, Gazan residents surrounded the trucks, and looted the supplies being delivered. During the incident, dozens of Gazans were injured as a result of pushing and trampling,” the IDF told CNN.
Nearly five months on from Hamas’ October 7 attack, Israel has said that more than 100 hostages remain in captivity. Its political and military leaders have pledged to press ahead with their objectives to return those hostages and “destroy” Hamas, despite international pressure to reduce the intensity of their campaign.
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz on February 17 warned that Israeli forces will expand military operations in Rafah if hostages are not returned by Ramadan, which is expected to begin on March 10 or 11.
“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know – if by Ramadan our hostages are not…
Read More: Gaza death toll: More than 30,000 killed since Israel-Hamas war began, health