The death toll caused by the Israeli military’s attacks in Gaza since October 7 reached 7,028, the Hamas-run local health ministry revealed on Thursday. The total includes 2,913 children, 1,709 women and 397 elderly people.
Yesterday, United States President Joe Biden said that he is “sure innocents have been killed” in Gaza, but added that he has “no confidence” in the numbers the Palestinian enclave’s health ministry is releasing.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society separately announced today that it “received 12 trucks from their Egyptian Red Crescent counterparts at the [Rafah] border crossing, containing water, food, medicines and medical supplies.” It added that “so far, a total of 74 trucks have been received, but fuel has not been allowed to enter the Strip till this moment.”
Hamas official calls for stronger intervention from Hezbollah
A senior Hamas official tells The Associated Press that the Palestinian group had expected stronger intervention from Hezbollah in its war with Israel, in a rare public appeal to its allies in the region.
Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s decision-making political bureau, said in an interview with the US news agency that “we need more” from allies, including Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, in light of the Israeli air campaign.
“Hezbollah now is working against the occupation,” Hamad said at the Hamas office in Beirut. “We appreciate this. But … we need more in order to stop the aggression on Gaza.
“We expect more.”
