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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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UNRWA Chief: Gaza Polio Vaccination Coverage Has Reached 90%

Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
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UNRWA Chief: Gaza Polio Vaccination Coverage Has Reached 90%

Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)

Polio vaccination coverage in Gaza has reached 90%, the head of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency said on Monday, adding that the next step was to ensure hundreds of thousands of children got a second dose at the end of the month.

The campaign to vaccinate some 640,000 children in Gaza under 10 years of age against polio, which began on Sept. 1, presented major challenges to UNRWA and its partners due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

It followed confirmation by the World Health Organization (WHO) last month that a baby had been partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the Palestinian territory in 25 years, according to Reuters.

More than 446,000 Palestinian children in central and south Gaza were vaccinated earlier this month before a campaign to vaccinate a final 200,000 children in north Gaza began on September 10 despite access restrictions, evacuation orders and shortages of fuel.

The first round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza ended successfully, UNRWA's chief Philippe Lazzarini said, adding that 90% of the enclave's children had received a first dose.

"Parties to the conflict have largely respected the different required "humanitarian pauses" showing that when there is a political will, assistance can be provided without disruption. Our next challenge is to provide children with their second dose at the end of September," he wrote on X.