Death toll in Gaza surpasses 44,000 in 13 months

The death toll from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000, health officials in the Gaza Strip said today (21 November).

The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Meanwhile a rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the main ambulance service in Israel.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.

Israel launched its war against Hamas after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

The Israeli offensive has caused heavy destruction across wide areas of the coastal territory and displaced 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people.

Israel has also launched airstrikes against Lebanon after the Hezbollah militant group began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' attack last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country's Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.

On the Israeli side, Hezbollah's aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.