Gaza death toll reaches 51,000
At least 17 Palestinians have been killed and 69 wounded in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
“A number of victims remain under the rubble and on the roads, unable to be reached by ambulances and Civil Defence crews,” the statement published on Telegram said.
The latest figures bring the toll since Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18 to 1,630 killed and 4,302 wounded, the ministry said. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 51,000 Palestinians and injured 116,343, it added.
Hamas disarmament aside, Israel intent on ‘mass expulsion’ in Gaza
Even if Hamas disarms, it is “very unlikely” that Israel will withdraw from Gaza and the war will end, according to Mohamad Elmasry, an associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
“Everything that Israel is telling us is that Hamas aside, they are fully intent on mass expulsion,” he told Al Jazeera.
“They have an agency set up to facilitate the mass transfer of Palestinians. This has absolutely nothing to do with Hamas,” Elmasry added, referring to Israel’s revised ceasefire proposal which includes the condition that the Palestinian group disarm.
Hamas, in turn, is likely never to agree to such a demand, he said.
“Hamas has already agreed to give back all of the captives … in exchange for the end to the war, they have agreed to step down as governors of Gaza … they’ve proposed a 10-year-long truce, and they’ve also agreed to disarm if Israel withdraws and ends the occupation.”
Dissent in Israel grows as military signs petitions to end war, prioritise captives’ safety
Over the past weeks, thousands of members of Israel’s military and members of civil society have signed petitions calling for an end to the war on Gaza.
Here’s what we know:
- Last Thursday, nearly 1,000 Israeli fighter pilots signed an open letter demanding the “immediate return of all our hostages without delay, even at the cost of stopping the war immediately”.
- Most signatories were retired and about 10 percent were on active reserve duty. The Israeli army said all those on active duty would be fired, a move fully backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Reservists from Intelligence Unit 8200 issued a statement in support of the pilots.
- On Sunday, hundreds of Israeli writers, poets and literary figures signed a similar letter calling for the government to get the captives back “even if it comes at the cost of halting the fighting”, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported.
- On Monday, some 1,500 former and current Israeli armoured corps, including former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, called for an end to the war.
- On the same day, more than 1,600 veterans of the paratroopers and infantry brigades signed a letter insisting on the need to stop the war.
- About 200 Israeli military doctors wrote another petition calling for an end to the war, saying the conflict has strayed from its stated goals.
- Israeli Army Radio reports that a group of 150 Golani Brigade members added their names to the thousands of signatories calling for an end to the conflict.
- Open letters were also published by a group of officers and reservists from the army’s special operations and cyber directorates.
