In Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry announced on Sunday that the death toll in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has surpassed 50,000. The grim milestone comes as new Israeli airstrikes claimed the lives of at least 26 Palestinians overnight, including a Hamas political leader and several women and children.
Israeli military forces also entered part of the southern city of Rafah, prompting thousands of Palestinians to flee following evacuation orders. Israel terminated the recent ceasefire with a sudden wave of strikes that resulted in hundreds of casualties, and ground incursions have been initiated in northern Gaza. The military reported the elimination of dozens of militants in recent operations.
On Saturday, Israel’s Cabinet approved a plan to establish a new directorate to facilitate the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians, aligned with a proposal from U.S. President Donald Trump to depopulate Gaza and repopulate it with others. However, Palestinians express their desire to remain in their homeland, and human rights organizations caution that the plan may constitute forced expulsion in violation of international law.
Forcing residents of the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah to evacuate on foot towards Muwasi, amidst intense shelling and gunfire, has been described as “displacement under fire” by witnesses. The relentless violence has compelled a significant portion of Gaza’s population to repeatedly seek refuge within the territory.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service lost contact with a team of medics responding to the strikes, with reports of injuries among the responders. While Israel contends that its operations are solely targeting militants, civilian casualties continue to mount as the conflict escalates.
Among the casualties reported were the killing of Salah Bardawil, a prominent member of Hamas’ political bureau, and his wife in Muwasi. The strikes also claimed the lives of several women and children, as hospitals in southern Gaza received 24 more bodies. The Health Ministry disclosed that over 50,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in the conflict, with more than 113,000 sustaining injuries. Shockingly, the death toll includes 15,613 children, 872 of whom are infants.
The ceasefire reached in January, which briefly halted over a year of hostilities triggered by Hamas’ attack into Israel in 2023, now lies in tatters following the recent escalation.
In the initial phase of the recent ceasefire, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces retreated, allowing hundreds of thousands of individuals to return to their damaged homes. Humanitarian aid increased until Israel halted all supplies to Gaza this month in order to pressure Hamas to amend the ceasefire agreement. Negotiations were expected to begin in early February for the next phase of the ceasefire, where Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages, including 35 presumed deceased, in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire, and an Israeli withdrawal. However, these talks never commenced.
Hundreds of Israelis gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem to protest his management of the conflict and his attempt to remove the head of the Shin Bet internal security service. One protester, Avital Halperin, expressed concern for the country’s future and called for a change in direction.
In a separate development, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are aligned with Hamas, fired another missile at Israel overnight. The Israeli military intercepted the missile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage. The Houthis resumed attacks on Israel after the Gaza ceasefire ended, citing solidarity with the Palestinians. Last week, Trump ordered renewed U.S. strikes on the rebels due to their previous attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.
Additionally, Israel’s cabinet approved the creation of 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of settlements to 140, which are considered illegal by the majority of the international community. These settlements will now have independent budgets from Israel and the ability to elect their own local governments.
