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More Than 13,000 People Have Died in Gaza, Officials Say

A Palestinian youth walks inside a shrapnel-riddled building damaged in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on November 23, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP)
A Palestinian youth walks inside a shrapnel-riddled building damaged in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on November 23, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP)
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More Than 13,000 People Have Died in Gaza, Officials Say

A Palestinian youth walks inside a shrapnel-riddled building damaged in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on November 23, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP)
A Palestinian youth walks inside a shrapnel-riddled building damaged in an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on November 23, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP)

The director of the Health Ministry in Gaza said it has resumed its detailed count of casualties from the Israel-Hamas war, and has documented more than 13,000 deaths.
Medhat Abbas confirmed the resumption to The Associated Press on Thursday.
The Health Ministry had stopped updating its figures on Nov. 11 after the breakdown of access and communication in northern Gaza, where Israeli ground troops are battling Hamas fighters.
The latest count is based on updated figures from hospitals in the south and Nov. 11 figures from the northern hospitals. The real toll is likely higher.
The Health Ministry said another 6,000 people have been reported missing, and are feared buried under the rubble.

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Arab World

UN Experts Censure Western Support for Israel Since Gaza War

A vehicle moves past the rubble of collapsed buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 16, 2024, amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A vehicle moves past the rubble of collapsed buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 16, 2024, amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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UN Experts Censure Western Support for Israel Since Gaza War

A vehicle moves past the rubble of collapsed buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 16, 2024, amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A vehicle moves past the rubble of collapsed buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on September 16, 2024, amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

UN human rights experts criticized mostly Western states on Monday for continuing to support Israel despite what they described as a genocide in Gaza which might turn Israel into a "pariah" nation.

The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as a result of more than 11 months of conflict has prompted questions about Western states' long-standing political and military support for Israel, including from the United States and Britain which provide arms.

"Shockingly, in the face of the abyss reached in the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories) ...most member states remained inactive at best, or actively aiding and assisting Israel's criminal conduct," Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the OPT, told a press conference in Geneva, repeating allegations of genocide.

Israel denies the allegations and says it takes steps to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and that at least a third of the Palestinian fatalities in Gaza are fighters .

"I think it's unavoidable for Israel to become a pariah in the face of its continuous, relentless, vilifying assault of the United Nations, on top of millions of Palestinians," Albanese, an Italian lawyer, said, citing verbal and military attacks on UN facilities in Gaza.

She also questioned Israel's right to a seat at the United Nations, acquired in 1949. "Should there be a consideration of its membership as part of this organization which Israel seems to have zero respect for?" she asked.

In response to her comments, Israel's permanent mission to the UN in Geneva criticized Albanese. "She is not fit to hold any position at the United Nations, and this has been made clear by many," it said.

In the past, her remarks on the Israel-Hamas conflict have drawn scrutiny, including from a US ambassador in Geneva who said she has a history of using "antisemitic tropes".

Albanese was joined by three other UN independent experts who accused Western countries of hypocrisy and double standards, for example by being more vocal over perceived rights' violations by Russia since its invasion of Ukraine than of Israel's actions in Gaza.

They are among dozens of independent human rights experts mandated by the United Nations to report and advise on specific themes and crises. Their views do not reflect those of the global body as a whole.