Israeli Defence Minister sees opportunity for hostage release in ceasefire talks
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that he sees an opportunity to secure the release of all hostages still held in Gaza through a ceasefire deal.
Gaza’s government media office has announced that the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 13,000 since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7.
Ismail al-Thawabta, the director general of the media office, said on Sunday at a press conference that among the dead were 5,500 children and 3,500 women, while more than 30,000 others were seriously injured.
Al-Thawabta added that the number of missing persons has surpassed 6,000, including 4,000 children and women still under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks, Xinhua news agency reported.
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Israel has been carrying out attacks on Gaza over the past weeks to retaliate against the Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, during which Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages.
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