A girl mourns the death of Palestinians from the Samour family, who were killed in Israeli strikes on their house, at a land near to their home as the residents struggle to find spaces in cemeteries, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 12, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
The Israeli-Hamas conflict in the Palestinian territory has claimed at least 18,787 lives, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Thursday.
According to the ministry, the fighting has also resulted in 50,897 injuries.
Approximately 1,200 people, largely civilians, are said to have died in the Palestinian group’s historic October 7 attacks on Israel, which sparked the start of the current war, which is in its third month.
In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a relentless bombardment and ground invasion that has left swathes of Gaza in ruins.
US President Joe Biden, whose government has provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, delivered his sharpest rebuke of the war this week. He said Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza was eroding international support.
But Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to carry on “until victory” and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the war would continue “with or without international support.”
