TUNIS, February 4. /TASS/. Twenty bodies have been retrieved from under the debris in the Gaza Strip over the past day, Palestine’s health ministry said.
Over the past 24 hours, "twenty-two bodies (of which 20 were retrieved from under the debris) and six wounded people" were taken to the enclave’s hospitals, it wrote on its Telegram channel.
According to the ministry, the overall death toll in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 has climbed to 47,540, with 111,618 people being hurt.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave.
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said late on January 15 that thanks to the mediatory efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held in the enclave. During the first 42-day phase of the deal, Hamas will release 33 hostages in exchange for Israel freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The agreement came into effect on January 19.