The Palestinian Health Ministry reported Thursday that the Israel-Hamas battle in Gaza has killed at least 30,000 people, isolating Israel and hurting its erstwhile friends.
Military operations continue despite US cease-fire assertions. Israel has threatened to attack Rafah, the enclave's southernmost city, where 1.4 million people live in misery after sweeping through northern and central Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry claims 70% of slain Palestinians are women and children. Rights watchdogs and UN officials say Israel violated international law in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, which many attorneys consider a war crime.
“Nothing can justify” Hamas' “deliberate killing, injuring, torturing and kidnapping of civilians, the use of sexual violence, or the indiscriminate launching of rockets towards Israel,” Guterres said Monday “But nothing justifies communal Palestinian punishment.”
“International humanitarian law remains under attack,” he said. And “tens of thousands of civilians, including women and children, have been killed.” American and UN officials say Palestinian officials' death toll is accurate or undercounted. Local charity workers say thousands more may be buried under the rubble. The UN and Gazan health specialists estimate 70,000 wounded and 1.7 million displaced, or 80% of the population. The World Bank claimed last month that satellite photos showed 60% of Gaza's residential buildings damaged and 45% destroyed.
Former Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' legal counsel Diana Buttu said, “This isn't just a question of the number of Palestinians killed; this is much bigger than that.” “The world failed Palestinians.”
Israel says it's just trying to eradicate Hamas following its Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 and seized 240. The Israeli military counts 576 dead since Oct. 7, 237 since the ground offensive began Oct. 27.
Israeli forces are dropping leaflets, vacating conflict zones, and building "safe zones" in Gaza to prevent civilian casualties. Israeli authorities blame Hamas for using "human shields" and failing to liberate the 134 Gaza hostages.
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