Death toll in Gaza surpasses 70,000

The toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023 has surpassed 70,000, the Palestinian health ministry has announced. 

In a statement, the ministry said on Saturday that the death toll had risen to 70,100.

It said that since the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October, 354 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire.

Two bodies arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, the ministry said, one of which had been recovered from beneath the rubble.

It noted that the spike from the last death toll was due to the fact that the data relating to 299 bodies had been processed and approved by the authorities.