Month After War on Gaza: Palestinian Deaths Top Russia-Ukraine War Toll

A damaged road after Israeli forces stormed the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Sunday (Reuters)
A damaged road after Israeli forces stormed the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Sunday (Reuters)
TT

Month After War on Gaza: Palestinian Deaths Top Russia-Ukraine War Toll

A damaged road after Israeli forces stormed the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Sunday (Reuters)
A damaged road after Israeli forces stormed the Jenin camp in the West Bank on Sunday (Reuters)

The number of deaths one month since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza reached frightening numbers as the situation becomes increasingly horrifying, portending more victims.

Israel announced the war could be extended for several months, perhaps even a year.

Palestinian sources confirmed that the number of Palestinians killed in one month exceeded the number of deaths in the Ukraine war, which reached 9,806 victims over nearly two years.

Palestinian health authorities said the death toll from Israeli strikes had exceeded 10,328, while Israel estimates their number at more than 20,000, including 4,237 children and 2,716 women, in addition to 25,956 injuries.

More than 120,000 homes were destroyed and about 1.2 million citizens were displaced.

In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israel killed 220 people, arrested 2,215 others, and demolished 120 homes.

According to Israeli reports, the number of deaths is more than that of the 1967 war that Israel fought against three Arab armies, with 779 deaths, including 850 civilians and 5,500 injuries.

The Israeli government evacuated 115,000 residents, while about 109,000 decided to leave from 29 settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip and 22 others on the Lebanese border.

According to the Israelis, the war began in response to Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, and the capturing of 240 Israelis and foreigners as hostages.

Israel officially declared war on Hamas to “annihilate” the movement and terminate its ability to rule and its military capabilities.

Tel Aviv admitted it had taken a new form of warfare, bombing Gaza without mercy from afar, using the air force, navy, artillery, and tanks to destroy any place where Hamas leaders or any of its armed members were located, even if it was crowded among civilians.

It claims Hamas leaders are using civilians as human shields. As a result of these claims, Israel has bombed hospitals and schools.

Three weeks into this terrible bombing, the Israeli army began a ground operation searching for Hamas leaders and kidnapped Israelis.

Israel insists that the attack has nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that the movement is pursuing a brutal path in its war against Jewish civilians and even Muslim Arabs.

In response, Palestinians say Israel has been insisting on besieging the Gaza Strip for 16 years, and from time to time, launched a military operation in which it destroys the enclave, killing thousands of Palestinians and exacerbating the economic and social situation there.

They said Israel continues its occupation of the West Bank and Judaization of Jerusalem with massive settlement projects, violating the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque. It carries out widespread arrests and degrades prisoners.

Moreover, Tel Aviv allows settlers to carry out bloody criminal attacks on Palestinians and denies their rights.

- The hysteric Israeli response

Palestinians said the Hamas attack came within the framework of resistance to the occupation’s projects, describing the Israeli response as hysterical because Tel Aviv did not imagine Palestinians were capable of penetrating their fortified defenses and carry out a successful military attack.

They added that Israel wants to implement its old plans to destroy Gaza and deport its people to Egypt, with the hope of expelling the Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan later.

Palestinians called the war the second Nakba, saying the Israeli army drops a thousand tons of explosives every day to implement those goals, with the support of the US administration and Western governments.

The US and the West are not fulfilling their moral and humanitarian duty to deter the Israeli war of annihilation, they stressed.



France to Host International Meet on Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in June

15 April 2026, Berlin: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, gives a statement at the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. (dpa)
15 April 2026, Berlin: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, gives a statement at the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. (dpa)
TT

France to Host International Meet on Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in June

15 April 2026, Berlin: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, gives a statement at the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. (dpa)
15 April 2026, Berlin: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, gives a statement at the International Sudan Conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. (dpa)

France will host an international meeting in June dedicated to the long-touted two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the French foreign minister announced on Thursday.

"On September 22 last year, France took the momentous decision to recognize the State of Palestine and will host an international conference in Paris on June 12 so that Israeli and Palestinian civil societies can make their voices heard," Jean-Noel Barrot said in a video message played to a gathering of peace activists in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

The "People's Peace Summit" in Tel Aviv was organized by the "It's Time" coalition, a grouping of more than 80 peacebuilding organizations working to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through a political agreement guaranteeing both peoples' right to self-determination and secure lives.

Several hundred people attended the meeting in Tel Aviv, AFP journalists reported.

"While the Middle East remains deeply scarred by the terrorist attacks of October 7 (2023) in Israel, by more than two and a half years of devastating war in Gaza and by a humanitarian crisis that, sadly, shows no sign of abating, your presence here is an act of resistance against fatalism and resignation," Barrot said.

Palestinian movement Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza, where a ceasefire in effect since October has largely halted fighting.

Barrot's remarks come as the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most right-wing in Israel's history, vehemently opposes the emergence of a sovereign and fully independent Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and is working on the ground to undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas appears extremely weakened and deeply unpopular.


‘Positive’ Mood in Cairo Talks on New Proposal by Mediators

 A Palestinian man carries jerrycans filled with water through a tent camp in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP)
A Palestinian man carries jerrycans filled with water through a tent camp in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP)
TT

‘Positive’ Mood in Cairo Talks on New Proposal by Mediators

 A Palestinian man carries jerrycans filled with water through a tent camp in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP)
A Palestinian man carries jerrycans filled with water through a tent camp in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP)

Hamas described as “positive” an initial meeting held by its delegation on Wednesday evening with mediators in Egypt to discuss a new Gaza ceasefire proposal.

Asharq Al-Awsat reviewed a message sent by Hamas to Palestinian factions describing the talks as “a preliminary, frank, clear and brief meeting, held in a positive atmosphere.”

The message said Hamas told the UN’s senior representative for Gaza on the Board of Peace, Nickolay Mladenov, and his team that “there must be clear implementation of the first phase before moving to the second,” noting this stance had already been adopted by the movement and other Palestinian factions.

It added that mediators are awaiting Israel’s response to determine next steps.

A senior Hamas source confirmed the message, saying the atmosphere in Wednesday’s meetings with mediators was positive. Another meeting was held later the same evening with Mladenov and other figures, the source said.

Mladenov, who arrived in Cairo from Israel on Tuesday, carried Israel’s position on the recently updated proposal covering the first and second phases, the source added. Further meetings are expected on Thursday.

The source said Israel is still trying to obstruct the agreement by pushing conditions linking progress to disarmament, including seeking signed approval from Hamas and other factions, a demand all factions in the Cairo talks reject.

Mediators, including Mladenov, are attempting to find workable approaches, the source said, with talks set to continue through Friday.

Leftist factions raise concerns

Despite Hamas describing the talks as positive and calling for a clear implementation timeline and firm guarantees, some factions, particularly leftist groups within the Palestine Liberation Organization, raised concerns over the latest mediators’ proposal.

A senior source from leftist factions said their observations focused on the absence of a binding timeline for Israeli withdrawal and the lack of a clear monitoring mechanism.

The source also cited the need for a defined schedule for the second phase and warned of a reduced Palestinian national role in favor of an international administration.

Other concerns included ambiguity in implementing the first phase, linking reconstruction to disarmament, and the exclusion of areas beyond the “Yellow Line” from reconstruction plans.

The factions proposed affirming the right to self-determination and a Palestinian state in line with international legitimacy, and that Gaza’s administrative committee begin work from the first phase.

They also suggested weapons be neutralized through a national agreement within security arrangements overseen by guarantor states, particularly Egypt, and held in custody there.

They further proposed that weapons neutralization coincide with a full Israeli withdrawal, the disarmament of armed groups linked to Israel, and the deployment of international forces starting from the “Yellow Line,” to be completed after withdrawal.

They called for international guarantees for both withdrawal and reconstruction, ensuring reconstruction begins in all areas vacated by Israeli forces, including those beyond the “Yellow Line,” alongside the launch of an early recovery plan at the start of the remaining first phase.

The proposal stressed the need to ensure freedom of political and civil activity under national laws. It said any arrangements in Gaza must not contradict Palestinian Authority laws and called for strengthening national consensus.

It also called for addressing armed groups through a separate track, with the possibility of integrating them into official institutions.

The proposal urged a comprehensive solution to the detainees’ issue, particularly those from Gaza, and said any arrangements for weapons neutralization should be linked to resolving this issue.

The Hamas source said the factions’ observations were conveyed to the mediators and Mladenov.


Israel Army Says Soldier Killed ‘in Combat’ in South Lebanon

 Israeli military vehicles drive in Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, April 30, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli military vehicles drive in Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, April 30, 2026. (Reuters)
TT

Israel Army Says Soldier Killed ‘in Combat’ in South Lebanon

 Israeli military vehicles drive in Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, April 30, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli military vehicles drive in Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, April 30, 2026. (Reuters)

The Israeli army said Thursday that a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, the fourth such death since a fragile ceasefire took effect there earlier this month.

Sergeant Liem Ben Hemo, 19, "died in combat in the south of Lebanon", the army said in a statement, adding that another soldier was wounded in the incident.

The latest death brings to 17 the number of soldiers killed since the war began with Iran-backed Hezbollah on March 2, according to an AFP tally based on military figures.

One Israeli civilian working for the army has also been killed.