KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas so far, Gaza health officials said Saturday, as the two sides completed the latest exchange of bodies under the terms of a fragile ceasefire.
The latest jump in the death toll occurred as more bodies were recovered from the rubble in the devastated Gaza Strip since the start of the ceasefire on October 10, and with the identification of previously unidentified bodies. This toll also includes Palestinians killed in raids since the truce took effect, which Israel says are targeting remaining militants.
On Saturday, Israel returned the remains of 15 more Palestinians to Gaza, according to hospital officials in the Strip, a day after activists returned the remains of a hostage to Israel. He was identified as Lior Redev, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The Forum for Hostages and Missing Families said that Rudayev was born in Argentina.
The exchanges form the central part of the initial phase of the ceasefire, which requires Hamas to return all hostages as quickly as possible. Families and supporters rallied again on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv to demand everyone’s return.
The truce aims to end the bloodiest and most destructive war ever between Israel and the Palestinian armed group. It began with the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.
Also on Saturday, Israeli settlers launched two attacks on Palestinian farmers, medics, activists and journalists in the occupied West Bank as settler violence reached new levels in the region.
“I haven’t lost hope”
For every Israeli hostage returned, Israel releases the remains of 15 Palestinians. On Saturday, families of missing Palestinians examined the new returnees.
Ahmed Dhahir, director of forensic medicine at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the country, said that the remains of 300 people have now been returned, and 89 others have been identified.
“We do not have sufficient resources or DNA to match them with the families of the martyrs,” Dhir said. The unknown will be buried in batches.
Hopeful families looked at bags of decomposing bodies. “Shut it, it’s not him,” one family said.
The missing boy’s mother, who did not give her name, said: “I always come here. I have not lost hope. I am still waiting for him.”
The Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll there since the war began had risen to 69,169. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records that independent experts generally consider reliable.
The ministry said that 284 people were added to the total number after verifying their identities in the period from October 31 to November 7.
The ministry said that over the past three days, 10 bodies were transferred to Gaza hospitals, nine of which were recovered from under the rubble and one was recently killed. She added that since the start of the ceasefire, 241 people have been killed in Gaza.
She added that a large number of Palestinians are still missing.
The Israeli army said on Saturday that its soldiers killed two militants who approached the forces, one in northern Gaza and the other in the south.
Israeli settlers attack
Eleven people were injured in an attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including journalists, medics, international activists and farmers, Palestinian health officials said, with settler violence reaching new highs during this year’s olive harvest season.
The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs reported more attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank in October than in any other month since the office began tracking such attacks in 2006. The office said there were more than 260 attacks, or an average of eight incidents per day.
Activists and first responders flocked to this year’s olive harvest season to help Palestinian farmers reach their fields safely.
A video clip circulated in the Palestinian media showed inside a hospital in the West Bank, where the wounded – bandaged and bloodied – were taken from Saturday’s attack on the town of Beita.
Longtime activist Jonathan Pollack told The Associated Press that he was picking olives when dozens of masked Israeli settlers descended, armed with clubs, chased them down and threw stones. Pollack was hit in the head with a rock and taken to the hospital.
Polak said he saw five settlers attacking a journalist and her security guard. He saw the settlers beating her and hitting her with clubs, which led to holes in her helmet.
A Reuters spokesman said that two colleagues were “attacked by a group of men with sticks and stones,” despite identifying them as journalists, and both were injured. The spokesman called on the Israeli authorities to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.
There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Human rights groups say arrests for settler violence are rare, and prosecutions are even rarer. The left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported in 2022 that based on Israeli police statistics, charges were brought in only 3.8% of cases of settler violence, with most cases opened and closed without action being taken.
Also on Saturday, Palestinian medics reported another attack by settlers in the nearby village of Burin. The Palestinian Red Crescent said that settlers wounded four international activists and a 57-year-old man.
The Israeli army said that soldiers responded to a report of stones being thrown at an Israeli vehicle, and that Israeli civilians then threw stones at the harvesters. She added that Israeli and Palestinian civilians were injured.
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Julia Frankel reports from Jerusalem and Sally Abu Al-Joud reports from Beirut.
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Find more AP coverage of Israel and Hamas at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war