The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the Israeli military offensive has exceeded 30,500, most of them civilians, while survivors face the deepening humanitarian crisis without Israel and the Islamist group Hamas being able to reach a truce agreement. “At least 19 civilians were killed in Israeli airstrikes that targeted different areas of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, and the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center” of the Palestinian enclave, the agency reported. Palestinian news official, Wafa.

In addition, “dozens of civilians were killed and dozens more were wounded in an Israeli bombing of a house in the Zaytun neighborhood” of Gaza City, where the Army concluded a two-week raid in which it killed a hundred suspected militants, he added. Since the war broke out on October 7 after an attack by the Islamist group Hamas against Israel that left some 1,200 dead and 250 kidnapped, the Israeli military counteroffensive has left at least 30,534 dead in the Gaza Strip, 71,920 injured and about 7,000 missing under the rubble, most of them civilians, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.

Among the dead there are 13,430 children -19 of whom died in recent days from malnutrition and dehydration-, 8,900 women, 364 medical personnel and 48 rescuers, according to the same source. And among the survivors, of whom two million are displaced, there are 17,000 children orphaned by one or both parents, 700,000 infected by some epidemic outbreak60,000 pregnant women at risk due to lack of access to medical care, and 350,000 chronic patients at risk of dying due to not receiving the medications they need.

The shortage of drinking water in the Strip has triggered cases of diarrhea and skin diseases among children and the elderly, Doctors Without Borders reported this Monday from Rafah, where most of the displaced Gazan population is located. The humanitarian aid provided by the international community by air and land It has not been enough to avoid famine among Gazans, who also have to deal with the constant fear of losing their lives, overcrowding in open tents, the collapse of hospitals and the lack of medicine and electricity.

According to Hamas, 70 of the 130 hostages still in the Strip died “from Israeli bombings”, although Israel has only confirmed the death of around thirty.

The president of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, He defined the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic, inconceivable, shameful.” Francis spoke at the opening of a special session of the Assembly called for the United States to explain its latest veto, on February 20, in the Security Council – the third since the war in Gaza began – of a resolution that called for a halt the unconditional and immediate fire. No truce agreement The mediators – representatives of Qatar, Egypt and the United States – are in Cairo trying to reach a truce agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – which begins next March 10 or 11 – to alleviate conditions of civilians in Gaza and the release of the hostages.

Sources close to the talks informed EFE on condition of anonymity that the Hamas delegation has refused to announce the names of the hostages still alive in Gaza, as required by Israel, which withdrew its representative from the negotiating table. According to the informants, there are an unknown number of hostages held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other factions in Gaza, and Hamas does not know their whereabouts. Thus, Egypt would have sent an invitation to the YIP to go to Cairo to provide information and thus unblock the negotiations.

According to Hamas, 70 of the 130 hostages still in the Strip died “from Israeli bombings”, although Israel has only confirmed the death of around thirty. Israel and Hamas agreed to a truce in November that allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails. On the other hand, the Israeli Army revealed this Monday audio recordings that supposedly correspond to telephone conversations of two employees of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, in which they talk about their participation in the attack. Hamas of October 7. Additionally, the United Nations presented a report that found “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred in several locations during the attack” by Hamas, and that there is “clear and convincing information” that some hostages were raped and it is believed “that such violence may be ongoing against those who are still being held.”