Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 50,000 Palestinians since October 2023

The number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023 has crossed 50,000, according to health officials.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Sunday that at least 50,021 Palestinians have been killed and 113,274 wounded since Israel began attacking the besieged territory following an attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed and some 250 were taken captive in the attack in southern Israel.

The ministry said at least 41 people were killed over the past 24-hour reporting period as Israel ramps up its attacks on Gaza after its refusal to enter the second phase of a ceasefire deal it had signed with Hamas in January.

Entering phase 2 would have required Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza – a condition it agreed to in the deal mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. Even during phase 1, which took effect on January 19 and saw the release of captives in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, Israel killed more than 150 Palestinians in Gaza.

Reporting from Gaza City in northern Gaza, media’s Hani Mahmoud said the announced death toll is a “very grim, horrifying milestone”.

“For the record, the 50,000 figure is only a conservative estimate. These are only the people who have been registered at health facilities across the Gaza Strip. There are so many others buried without being registered or who have gone missing, trapped under piles of rubble,” Mahmoud said.

“Of the more than 50,000 killed, 17,000 are children. A whole generation has been wiped out. These children would have affected how their society would have progressed – politically, economically and intellectually,” he added.

The confirmed death toll does not include more than 11,000 who are missing and are presumed dead, according to the Gaza media office, while a study  published last July in the Lancet journal said the accumulative effects of Israel’s war on Gaza could mean the true death toll could reach more than 186,000 people.

Israel has repeatedly claimed that its attacks carefully target members of Hamas, but the number of civilians killed tells a different story, analysts say.