Palestinian Death Toll in Gaza Jumps to 28340

The Palestinian death toll from Israeli ongoing aggression in the Gaza Strip rose to 28,000 people on Tuesday, according to the Health Ministry (MoH) in Gaza.

MoH said that airstrikes took place early Monday in Rafah killing about 74, mostly women and children, noting that a quarter of Gaza's residents are starving.

Meanwhile, Israel reported about 100 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, while Hamas is holding the remains of roughly 30 others who were either killed on Oct. 7 or died in captivity. Three hostages were mistakenly killed by the army after escaping their captors in December.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Israel has imposed restrictions that are limiting the distribution of desperately needed humanitarian aid, noting that the current mechanisms for protecting humanitarian workers distributing aid in Gaza “are not effective.”

Guterres said: “My sincere hope is that negotiations for the release of hostages and some form of cessation of hostilities to be successful to avoid an all-out offensive over Rafah.”