Death toll from Israel-Hamas war exceeded 56,000 in Gaza: Palestinian health authority

Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip), June 24: Israel's military operation in Gaza has killed more than 56,000 people, the health ministry in the strip said on Tuesday.

The ministry said 56,077 people have been killed since the war started on October 7, 2023. It says another 131,848 have been wounded. The dead include 5,759 who have been killed since Israel resumed fighting on March 18, shuttering a two-month ceasefire, it said.

The ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of the dead were women and children. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics, it said.

Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, because they operate in populated areas.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostages.

Most of the hostages were released by ceasefire agreements.