The United Nations says more than half a million people are starving in Gaza because not enough food has entered the besieged territory as Israel keeps up its blistering campaign of airstrikes and ground operations.
Palestinian officials said Friday that the death toll has now exceeded 20,000 — around 1% of the territory’s prewar population.
The Health Ministry in Gaza does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says more than 130 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages.
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crammed into shelters and tent camps as winter descends, raising fears about the spread of disease. The U.N. Security Council has again delayed a vote on a new resolution to halt the fighting in some way, which would allow for an increase in humanitarian aid deliveries.
Currently:
— At least 5 US-funded projects in Gaza are damaged or destroyed, but most are spared
— Israeli police investigate prison guards in death of a Palestinian prisoner.
Israeli troops take positions in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. Credit: AP/Ohad Zwigenberg
— The Israeli military campaign in Gaza now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in history, experts say.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here’s what’s happening in the war:
HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY THE GAZA STRIP DEATH TOLL HAS PASSED 20,000
People stand in the mostly empty Security Council chambers at United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. The United States, key allies and Arab nations are engaging in high-level diplomacy in hopes of avoiding another U.S. veto of a new U.N. resolution on desperately needed aid to Gaza ahead of a long-delayed…
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