Gaza’s confirmed death toll tops 50,000: Health Ministry
The Health Ministry in Gaza says at least 41 people have been confirmed killed and 61 wounded in Israeli attacks in the last 24 hours. These casualties bring the total number of Palestinians killed since the war began 17 months ago to 50,021, with 113,274 wounded, said the ministry.
Numerous victims are still trapped under the wreckage where rescuers cannot reach them, it added.
Israel’s public ‘not interested’ in deaths in Gaza
Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, says Israelis will have little sympathy at the news that Gaza’s death toll has surpassed 50,000 during the war.
“My personal response would be anger, sadness, and shock. This is not likely to resonate because when the number was 45,000 [dead] the figures were said to be bogus, augmented by Hamas,” Goldberg told Al Jazeera.
“Generally, the Israeli public is not interested in claiming responsibility for Palestinian deaths in Gaza. It isn’t really interested in claiming responsibility for Israeli deaths in Gaza.”
He said the media in Israel show images of the carnage and suffering in the Strip, but “this has gone on so long, after a while, the mind is numbed”.
Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli public has said “every death in Gaza is on Hamas, for a variety of reasons”, Goldberg added.
‘A whole generation has been wiped out’
This is a very grim, horrifying milestone. People who had dreams, ambitions and life to look forward to are now gone.
For the record, the 50,000 figure is only a conservative estimate. These are only the people who have been registered at health facilities across the Gaza Strip. There are so many others buried without being registered or who have gone missing, trapped under piles of rubble.
Recent Israeli attacks have caused further civilian casualties, trapping more people under the concrete debris of collapsed buildings.
Of the more than 50,000 killed, 17,000 are children. A whole generation has been wiped out. These children would have affected how their society would have progressed – politically, economically and intellectually.
Israel’s Gaza strategy part of a ‘fantasy’ pursued by hard-right government
Israeli analyst Ori Goldberg says there are two “points of origin” to consider when looking at Israel’s current strategy on Gaza.
“One has to do with the Trump plan, the collective Israeli fantasy … that has been pursued actively by the hard-right government … that is ethnic cleansing, forced – certainly not the voluntary – expulsion of Palestinians outside the Strip,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to the widely criticised proposal by the US president.
Goldberg said the plan looks to appease Israeli settlers and give Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz, “who is constantly on the prowl for empty titles, some jurisdiction over the matter should it arise”.
The second point of origin concerns the domestic political issues plaguing Netanyahu and the Israeli military Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir. “They’re both looking for redemption. Netanyahu is looking to actively stave off protests that show no sign of weakening against his government,” Goldberg said.
“The Palestinians … with the second agenda, are merely props, and the truth is, nobody cares about shedding Palestinian blood in Israel,” he added.
