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32,226 Palestinians Killed in Gaza Offensive Since Oct. 7

Palestinians inspect the damage of residential buildings after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians inspect the damage of residential buildings after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
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32,226 Palestinians Killed in Gaza Offensive Since Oct. 7

Palestinians inspect the damage of residential buildings after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians inspect the damage of residential buildings after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

At least 32,226 Palestinians have been killed and 74,518 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday.

There have been 84 Palestinians killed and 106 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry statement added.

An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians now shelter in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip after fleeing Israel's offensive elsewhere.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said an Israeli ground assault on Rafah would be “a mistake” and unnecessary in defeating Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press forward with military-approved plans for the offensive, which he has said is crucial to achieving the stated aim of destroying Hamas. The military has said Rafah is Hamas’ last major stronghold and ground forces must target four battalions remaining there.

Again on Saturday night, Israelis protested in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem against Netanyahu and the government amid fears that surviving hostages held in Gaza are in ever-worsening conditions months into the war.

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Lebanon PM Issues Rare Rebuke to Iran over 'Interference'

This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's press office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivering a statement to the press in Beirut on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's press office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivering a statement to the press in Beirut on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
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Lebanon PM Issues Rare Rebuke to Iran over 'Interference'

This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's press office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivering a statement to the press in Beirut on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the Lebanese Prime Minister's press office shows Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivering a statement to the press in Beirut on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Lebanese Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister on Friday made a rare rebuke to Iran and said Tehran's envoy should be summoned over reported comments by a top Iranian official that it would be ready to help "negotiate" to implement a UN resolution on Lebanon.

Criticism of Iran by top Lebanese officials is unusual, particularly given Tehran's sponsorship of Hezbollah, which is currently locked in battles against Israeli troops along Lebanon's southern border.

In an interview published in France's Le Figaro on Thursday, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf was quoted as saying his country would be ready to "negotiate" with France to implement United Nations Resolution 1701.

That resolution, which ended the last round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, calls for southern Lebanon to be free of any troops or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state.

Lebanese PM Najib Mikati said on Friday that he was "surprised" by the comments, calling them "a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish a rejected guardianship over Lebanon.”

Mikati said such a negotiation was the prerogative of the Lebanese state, and asked Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib to summon the Chargé d'Affaires of the Iranian embassy in Beirut over Ghalibaf's comments.