Over 50,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza war, Hamas-run authority says

The number of Palestinians killed during the war in Gaza has passed 50,000, the Hamas-controlled health authority said on Sunday.

The figures, which do not distinguish between fighters and civilians, cannot be independently verified.

However, international organizations such as the UN consider them to be largely credible.

The conflict was triggered by the attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and allied extremist groups on October 7, 2023.

Around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 Israelis were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.

A six-week ceasefire took effect in January, but Israel resumed its attacks this week, with hundreds of Palestinians being killed since.

According to a media report on Sunday, around 30 people were killed in fresh Israeli attacks in southern Gaza.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported various attacks, including drone strikes, in the Rafah and Khan Younis areas. Residential buildings and a vehicle were among the targets hit.

The Israeli military had previously warned residents of the Tal al-Sultan district in Rafah that it would “launch an offensive against terrorist organizations” there.

Residents were called upon to flee the combat zone. Videos circulated on social media of people fleeing Rafah on foot, some of them heavily laden and with small children.

Hamas member among five killed in Israeli strike

Five people, including a senior Hamas member, were killed in an Israeli attack on a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, according to Palestinian reports.

Staff at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis said the Israeli military had attacked the second floor of the hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the target was a senior Hamas operative who had been active on the second floor of the hospital, shown on an accompanying diagram.

Hamas and Palestinian reports said the attack targeted and killed Ismail Barhum, a member of Hamas’ politburo.

The Israeli military initially refused to confirm this, but Defence Minister Israel Katz praised the military for killing Barhum.

Israeli media said Barhum was responsible for distributing funds within Hamas.

The Israeli military said the attack was “conducted following an extensive intelligence-gathering process and with precise munitions, in order to mitigate harm to the surrounding environment as much as possible.” It accused Hamas of using the hospital as a hideout.

Hamas said Barhum was treated at the hospital. The information provided by both sides could not initially be independently verified.

Hamas confirms death of senior leader

Earlier on Sunday, Hamas said a senior official has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Islamist organization confirmed the death of Salah al-Bardawil, a member of its politburo, in a post on its Telegram channel.

Hamas said al-Bardawil and his wife were killed “in a treacherous Zionist assassination” in his tent in al-Mawasi, an area in the Gaza Strip designated as a humanitarian zone.