Gaza death toll surpasses 67,000 as Israel prepares for Trump-backed ceasefire plan

The death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas conflict has surpassed 67,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported Saturday. The rise comes after the ministry added over 700 names whose data had recently been verified.

Israel’s military said it is preparing for the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining hostages. An official, speaking anonymously, said the army has adopted a defensive-only posture and will not conduct active strikes.

On October 1, Israel’s defence minister ordered all remaining Palestinians to evacuate Gaza City, warning that those who stay would be considered militant supporters and face the full force of Israel’s offensive.

At least 21 Palestinians were killed across the territory, according to local hospitals, as Hamas reviewed a new proposal from Trump aimed at ending the conflict and returning the captives taken in Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack.

A senior Hamas official told The Associated Press that some points in the plan were unacceptable and would require amendments, but further details will be discussed with other Palestinian factions.

Meanwhile, around 400,000 Palestinians have fled famine-stricken Gaza City since Israel launched its offensive last month. Hundreds of thousands remain in the city, many unable to leave due to financial constraints or physical weakness, preventing them from reaching tent camps in the south.

“This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south,” Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X. “Those who remain in Gaza will be (considered) terrorists and terror supporters.”

The road south was packed as Palestinians fled, with hastily loaded trucks and cars driving alongside people on foot carrying their belongings.

“We left barefoot,” Hussein al-Del said. The Israelis “were striking at random, with no mercy for anyone. We left behind our food, our furniture, blankets, and everything. We left only with our souls,” he said.

At least seven people, including first responders, were killed when two Israeli strikes minutes apart hit a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to Al-Ahli Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Officials there said more than three dozen people were wounded.

Five Palestinians were killed later in a strike on people gathered around a drinking water tank elsewhere in Gaza City, the hospital said. Shifa Hospital said a man was killed in a strike on his apartment. Strikes in central Gaza killed another eight people, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

Another strike hit a tent in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, seriously wounding two people, according to hospital officials.

Earlier on October 1 at the same hospital, dozens of people attended a funeral service for a Palestinian freelance journalist, Yahya Barzaq. He was killed Tuesday along with five other people in an airstrike while working for Turkish broadcast outlet TRT.

More than 189 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since the outbreak of the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on October 1 strikes or the strike that killed Barzaq. Israel states it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths, saying its militants are embedded in populated areas.

The military said at least seven projectiles were launched into Israel from Gaza, all of which were either intercepted or fell in open areas. There were no reports of casualties. Hamas’ military capabilities have been vastly depleted, but it still manages to carry out sporadic attacks.

With inputs from inputs