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Gaza death toll since October 2023 exceeds 48,000 — Health Ministry

The data has been confirmed by a judicial committee looking into reports about missing persons

TUNIS, February 8. /TASS/. The number of people killed in military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 has risen to 48,181, while 111,638 people have been injured, the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, "another 572 cases have been added to the statistics on casualties." The data has been confirmed by a judicial committee looking into reports about missing persons. Besides, "five injured people were brought to the enclave’s hospitals in the past 48 hours, as well as 26 bodies, of which 22 had been retrieved from under the rubble, as well as," the Health Ministry pointed out.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hostages. Hamas described its attack as retaliation for the aggressive actions taken by Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, launching air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria before starting a ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, announced late on January 15 that Doha, Cairo and Washington had brokered an agreement between Israel and Hamas to release the hostages held in Gaza and declare a ceasefire in the enclave. The ceasefire took effect on January 19.