More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas so far, Gaza health officials said on Saturday, as the two sides completed the latest exchange of bodies under the terms of a fragile ceasefire.
The latest jump in the number of deaths occurred as more bodies were recovered in the devastated Gaza Strip since the ceasefire began on October 10, and as other bodies were identified. The death toll also includes Palestinians killed in strikes that Israel says target remaining activists.
Israel returned the remains of 15 more Palestinians to Gaza on Saturday, according to hospital officials there, a day after activists returned the remains of a hostage to Israel. He has been identified as Lior Redev, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The Forum for Hostages and Missing Families said that Rudayev was born in Argentina.
The exchanges form the central part of the initial phase of the ceasefire, which requires Hamas to return all hostages as quickly as possible. Families and supporters rallied again on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv to demand everyone’s return.
The truce aims to end the bloodiest and most destructive war ever between Israel and the Palestinian armed group. It began with the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.
Also on Saturday, Israeli settlers launched two attacks on Palestinian farmers and others in the occupied West Bank as settler violence reached new highs during this year’s olive harvest.
“I haven’t lost hope”
For every Israeli hostage returned, Israel releases the remains of 15 Palestinians. Ahmed Dhahir, director of forensic medicine at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the country, said that the remains of 300 bodies have now been returned, and 89 bodies have been identified.
“We do not have sufficient resources or DNA to match them with the families of the martyrs,” Dhir said. The unknown will be buried in batches.
Hopeful families looked at body bags containing decomposing remains. “Shut it, it’s not him,” one family said.
The missing boy’s mother, who did not give her name, said: “I always come here. I have not lost hope. I am still waiting for him.”
The Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll there since the war began had risen to 69,169. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records that independent experts generally consider reliable.
The ministry said that 284 people were added to the total number after verifying their identities in the period from October 31 to November 7.
The ministry said that over the past three days, 10 bodies had been transferred to Gaza hospitals — nine recovered from the rubble and one recently killed. She added that since the start of the ceasefire, 241 people have been killed in Gaza.
She added that a large number of Palestinians are still missing.
The Israeli army said on Saturday that its soldiers killed two militants who approached the forces, one in northern Gaza and the other in the south.
Israeli settlers attack
Palestinian health officials said that 11 people were injured in an attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank town of Beita, including journalists, medics, international activists and farmers. Activists and first responders flocked to this year’s olive harvest season to help Palestinian farmers reach their fields safely.
The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs reported more attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank in October than in any other month since the office began tracking attacks in 2006. More than 260 attacks occurred, the office said.
Longtime activist Jonathan Pollack told The Associated Press that he was picking olives when dozens of masked Israeli settlers descended, armed with clubs, chasing people and throwing stones. Pollack was hit in the head and taken to the hospital.
Polak said he saw five settlers attacking a journalist and her security guard. He saw the settlers beating her and hitting her with clubs, which led to holes in her helmet.
A Reuters spokesman said that two colleagues were “attacked by a group of men with sticks and stones,” despite identifying them as journalists, and both were injured. The spokesman called on the Israeli authorities to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.
The Israeli army said that it broke out a confrontation “between Israeli and Palestinian civilians during an uncoordinated olive harvest in an area that requires prior coordination,” and that several Palestinians were injured.
Human rights groups say arrests for settler violence are rare, and prosecutions are even rarer. The left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported in 2022 that based on Israeli police statistics, charges were brought in only 3.8% of settler violence cases, with most cases closed without action being taken.
Also on Saturday, Palestinian medics reported another attack by settlers in the nearby village of Burin. The Palestinian Red Crescent said that settlers wounded four international activists and a 57-year-old man.
The Israeli army said that soldiers responded to a report of stones being thrown at an Israeli vehicle, and that Israeli civilians then threw stones at the harvesters. She added that Israeli and Palestinian civilians were injured.
(Marks for translation) Death toll from the Hamas war in Israel
