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Death toll from Israel’s actions in Gaza Strip exceeds 48,500 — health ministry

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

CAIRO, March 11. /TASS/. The death toll from Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip since early October 2023 has exceeded 48,500 with more than 111,900 people being wounded, Gaza’s health ministry said.

According to the ministry, as many as 48,503 people have died and 111,927 more have been injured. Thirty-two bodies were retrieved from under the debris during the past day. Fourteen people were taken to hospitals with injuries and wounds.

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.

In mid-January, Israel and Hamas reached an Egypt-, Qatar-, and US-brokered three-stage agreement to release the hostages held in Gaza and declare a ceasefire in the enclave. The three-phase deal took effect on January 19. The initial 42-day phase of the ceasefire ended on March 1. All the living Israeli hostages and the bodies of those deceased who were supposed to be handed over in the first stage, 22 in all, were returned to Israel. In exchange, Israel released over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners.