TOPLINE
More than 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry said in an update on Friday, as the United Nations Security Council once again delayed a vote on a resolution to allow desperately needed aid to enter the Palestinian territory.
KEY FACTS
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, 20,057 people have died in the conflict so far and 53,320 Palestinians have been wounded.
The death toll does not differentiate between Gazan civilians and Hamas combatants but earlier breakdowns said women and children make up approximately two-thirds of the overall death toll.
Friday’s gruesome milestone means nearly 1% of Gaza’s prewar population of 2.3 million—has been killed in the ongoing war.
According to UN estimates, more than 85%—nearly 2 million—of the enclave’s total population have been displaced by the conflict so far.
On Thursday, a report released by a UN-backed body warned nearly a quarter of Gaza’s population faces imminent starvation while more than 90% of the population was facing a “crisis or worse” level of food insecurity.
BIG NUMBER
22,000. That is the number of aerial bombings Israel has carried out over Gaza since the start of the war, according to an Associated Press estimate. This is significantly higher than the nearly 15,000 airstrikes carried out by the U.S. and its allies in Iraq over a period between 2014 and 2017 during their battle against the Islamic State (IS).
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WHAT TO WATCH FOR
A United Nations Security Council vote on the delivery of much-needed aid to Gaza was delayed once again on Thursday as the council’s members attempted to hash out a resolution that would avoid being vetoed. On Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the U.S. was prepared to vote in favor of a resolution “that will support humanitarian assistance” on the ground. The U.S. had vetoed an earlier resolution by the council which had called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.