Gaza death toll passes 30,000 in grim milestone

More than 30,000 people have died in the war in Gaza, a grim new milestone in a war approaching its fifth month with no end in sight.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said 30,035 people have died since the war between Israel and militant group Hamas began in early October. More than 70,000 have also been injured in that time frame.

The ministry, which is run by Hamas, does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. But local health officials and the United Nations have said most of the dead and wounded are women and children.

“This horrific violence and suffering must end,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus wrote on social media. “Ceasefire.”

The death toll is likely to increase calls for an end to the war, though any pleas have little chance to halt an Israeli offensive that has spread across nearly the entire Gaza Strip.

Israel, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has refused to stop its campaign to crush Hamas, even after pressure grew when more than 10,000 people died and more than 20,000 were injured. Israel says the war, which is creating a major humanitarian crisis as Palestinians struggle to access basic necessities like food, water and medical aid, could last all year.

The Israeli military has also accused Hamas of hiding behind civilians and civilian infrastructure, a claim it has used to invade hospitals and bomb other buildings.

Israel has fought Hamas in northern Gaza and in the central southern part of the territory — including the city of Khan Younis — as it vows to wipe out the group in retaliation for the surprise Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw the kidnapping of another roughly 240 — about 100 of whom are still left alive in Gaza.

Israel is threatening to next move into Rafah, a city on the southern border with Egypt that is hosting more than a million Palestinians sheltering from the war. Israel accuses Hamas of hiding battalions there.

Human rights groups, emergency responders, the United Nations and Arab nations are warning Israel not to move into Rafah, which it has said it will do by March 10. That could change as negotiations are underway to potentially secure a cease-fire and a new hostage release deal.

The war in Gaza has created pressure on President Biden at home; this week, around 13 percent of the votes in the Michigan Democratic primary go toward “uncommitted” in a blow to the president and a bellwether for the November general election.

Biden has backed Israel in the war but has also pushed the country to lower the death toll, a balance that has been difficult to walk. In a sign of his growing frustration, Biden this month admitted the Israel response in Gaza was “over the top.”