In ten months, Israel’s attacks on Gaza have killed 40,000 people, 130 per day

Around 40,000 people have lost their lives in Gaza since Israel’s attacks began in October, according to data from the local Health Ministry, presented by the United Nations this Thursday (15). The number is equivalent to 130 deaths per day in these ten months. The serious situation in the region led Pope Francis to make, on the same day, a new appeal for an immediate ceasefire.

According to Palestinian authorities, it is estimated that 2% of the region’s population was killed, which corresponds to one death for every 50 people, and 10,000 bodies remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Read also: From torture to delivering bodies in pieces, Israel has no shortage of cruelty

“As the world reflects on its inability to prevent this carnage, I urge all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire, lay down their arms and stop the killing once and for all,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.

Turk also stressed that today, when this high number of casualties was reached, “is a grim milestone for the world.” He added that most of the dead were women and children, adding: “This unimaginable situation is due in large part to the repeated failures of the Israel Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war.”

Papal appeal

Such carnage and the desolate humanitarian situation faced by the Palestinians also led Pope Francis to once again appeal for peace this Thursday (15). “I continue to follow with concern the extremely serious humanitarian situation in Gaza and I ask once again that the fire be stopped on all fronts, that the hostages be freed and that help be given to the exhausted population,” said the pontiff.

Read also: Israeli attack on Gaza school kills over 100, worsens humanitarian crisis

“I encourage everyone to make every effort to prevent the conflict from expanding and to pursue the path of negotiations so that this tragedy may soon end. Let us not forget that war is a defeat,” the Pope added.

Negotiations

Both demonstrations — by the UN and the Pope — take place on the same day chosen for a new meeting between mediators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt and representatives from Israel and Hamas to seek an agreement that will stop the attacks.

A statement about the meeting, scheduled last week, said that “it is time to bring immediate relief both to the people of Gaza, who are suffering, and to the hostages and their families, who are also facing great suffering.”

On Tuesday (13), Hamas said it would not send a representative because it considered that Israel was hindering negotiations — the Israeli government, in turn, claims that the Palestinian group was to blame for the delay.

However, a recent report by The New York Times showed the opposite of what Benjamin Netanyahu claimed, pointing out that his government had made demands that would make the truce unfeasible, including the permanence of Israeli forces in control of Gaza’s southern border and less flexibility for Palestinians to return to their homes at the end of the conflict.

With agencies