At least 26,083 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7: Ministry

GAZA (Reuters): At least 26,083 Palestinians have been killed and 64,487 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Some 183 Palestinians were killed and 377 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

Israel unleashed its campaign to eliminate Hamas after the militants burst into Israel on Oct. 7 and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took over 200 hostages back to Gaza.

Urgent international appeals for a ceasefire to spare civilians who have borne the brunt of casualties have fallen on deaf ears with Israel vowing not to relent until Hamas has been eradicated and all hostages freed.

Hamas says any deal must hinge on Israel ending its offensive and siege and withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.

Mediated talks on a month-long truce that could see hostages freed in swaps for Palestinian prisoners in Israel have resumed, but have snagged on the two sides’ differences over how to bring an end to the war, sources told Reuters.

The directors of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and the US Central Intelligence Agency will meet Qatar’s prime minister in Europe this weekend to discuss a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and release of hostages, an official briefed on the meeting told Reuters on Thursday.

Gaza’s conflict threatens to destabilize the Middle East, stoking hostilities ranging from the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the Israel-Lebanon border region, Syria, Iraq and Red Sea shipping lanes crucial to international trade.