Gaza death toll surpasses 20,000, health officials say

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Hamas-run Gaza during Israel’s war against the militant group, health officials said Friday.

The death toll in Gaza amounts to nearly 1 percent of the prewar population and is just one measure of how the conflict has devastated the territory, The Associated Press noted. The conflict has displaced nearly 85 percent of Gaza’s population, and many buildings have been demolished.

The war in the Middle East began Oct. 7 after Hamas entered Israel in a surprise attack, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel has vowed to avenge the attack and has relented only slightly in the nearly three months since the onset of the war.

A senior Biden administration official said in early November the death toll was likely far higher than what was reported because of the difficulty in assessing the rate of casualties while the war was ongoing

Israel’s military is expanding its ground campaign, raiding one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza on Tuesday and launching more airstrikes in the south. Just a handful of employees at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City were left to treat wounded patients, without running water or electricity.

More than half a million people in Gaza, which is a quarter of the population, are starving, the AP recently reported. According to the World Food Program, 9 out of 10 Palestinians are eating less than one meal per day. The continued Israeli attacks, both by air and ground, are posing “major challenges” for humanitarian crews trying to deliver aid and for civilians who are searching for food.

Top U.S. officials have discussed with Israeli officials a transition to more targeted and “surgical operations” in Gaza, appearing to nudge the country to lessen the civilian casualties of its war against Hamas. There is no established timeframe for Israel to wind down its military campaign, but the Biden administration has pushed for efforts as early as January.