Gaza Death Toll Rises to More than 9,000

People check buildings destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 2, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
People check buildings destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 2, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
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Gaza Death Toll Rises to More than 9,000

People check buildings destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 2, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
People check buildings destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 2, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

The Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said Thursday that more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out more than three weeks ago.

Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, a ministry spokesperson, said 9,061 people have been killed in Gaza, including 3,760 who are under 18. The figure is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence and is around four times the toll from the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks.

Al-Qidra warned of an “imminent health catastrophe” after the main generator in a hospital in northern Gaza failed and other hospitals face shortages of fuel and medicine. He said the generator at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory's largest hospital, appears likely to fail soon.

“We appeal to all parties to provide safe passage for the urgent flow of medical aid into Gaza,” he said.



Yemen's Houthis Say They Will Only Target Israeli-linked Vessels after Gaza Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A boat carrying people sails near the Galaxy Leader commercial ship, seized by Yemen's Houthis last month, off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen, December 5, 2023. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A boat carrying people sails near the Galaxy Leader commercial ship, seized by Yemen's Houthis last month, off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen, December 5, 2023. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
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Yemen's Houthis Say They Will Only Target Israeli-linked Vessels after Gaza Ceasefire

FILE PHOTO: A boat carrying people sails near the Galaxy Leader commercial ship, seized by Yemen's Houthis last month, off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen, December 5, 2023. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A boat carrying people sails near the Galaxy Leader commercial ship, seized by Yemen's Houthis last month, off the coast of al-Salif, Yemen, December 5, 2023. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo

Yemen's Houthis will limit their attacks on commercial vessels to Israeli-linked ships after the Gaza ceasefire came into effect, according to the Yemen-based Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center.
The HOCC, which liaises between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators, said in an email sent to shipping industry officials dated Jan. 19 that it was stopping "sanctions" against vessels owned by US or British individuals or entities, as well as ships sailing under their flags.
"We affirm that, in the event of any aggression against the Republic of Yemen by the United States of America, the United Kingdom ... the sanctions will be reinstated against the aggressor," the email said. "You will be promptly informed of such measures should they be implemented."
The HOCC said they would stop targeting Israeli-linked ships "upon the full implementation of all phases of the agreement".
Many of the world's biggest shipping companies have suspended shipping through the Red Sea and have diverted their vessels around southern Africa to avoid being attacked.
The Iran-backed Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships since November 2023 and sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers. The Houthis have targeted the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which are joined by the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait, a chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
Hamas released three Israeli hostages in Gaza and Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has laid waste to the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East.