The Latest | Gaza death toll surges over 30,000 as a strike kills and wounds scores waiting for aid

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly five months ago, health officials in the territory said as a strike on a crowd of people waiting for aid in Gaza City killed and wounded scores on Thursday.

At least 70 people were killed as Palestinians lined up for humanitarian assistance, said Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra. Another 280 people were wounded, he said. The war has driven 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians from their homes, and U.N. officials say a quarter of the population is starving.

After the strike, Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war in the territory climbed to 30,035, with another 70,457 wounded. The ministry does not distinguish in its count between fighters and noncombatants. Israel says it has killed 10,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel’s air, sea and ground offensive launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has caused widespread devastation in Gaza City, largely isolating it from the rest of the territory for months, with little aid entering.

The war has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and sparked global concern over the situation in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town along the border with Egypt, where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought safety from Israel’s daily bombardments.

The war began after Hamas-led militants stormed across southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 others hostage.

Currently:

— Food aid reaches north Gaza for first time in weeks, and Israeli hostages’ families push for release.

— U.S. sanctions Iranian deputy commander, Houthi member and ships that transport Iranian oil.

— Qatar’s emir to discuss Gaza and hostages with Macron during a state visit to France.

— Biden implores Congress to avoid a government shutdown, send urgent aid to Ukraine and Israel.

— Find more of news agencies’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Here’s the latest:

CAIRO — A regional director of the World Health Organization decried on Thursday the latest surge in the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip and urged world leaders to join her in a push for a permanent cease-fire.

Hanan Balkhy, who is WHO’s head for the Eastern Mediterranean, said “concrete steps” toward peace are desperately needed.

“The 30 thousand are not mere statistics, they are human lives,” Balkhy wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “As a doctor and humanitarian, I will keep advocating for the right of all people to life and health. I call on all leaders to join.”