The Palestinian death toll in Israel's genocidal war on Gaza crossed 50,000 Sunday, leaving the question of how many is too many?
The Gazan Health Ministry said Sunday that at least 50,021 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel's war began in October 2023.
"The toll for the Israeli aggression has reached 50,021 martyrs and 113,274 wounded since October 7, 2023", a ministry statement said, referring to the day Hamas launched the incursion on Israel that triggered the war.
The territory's civil defense agency, citing its own records, also said the toll had topped 50,000 deaths.
The United Nations has deemed the figures from the Health Ministry reliable.
The toll surged this week following the breakdown of a truce that had largely held since Jan. 19, with Israel launching heavy bombardments of the Gaza Strip and a renewed ground offensive.
The Health Ministry reported at least 39 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people killed to 673 since Israel resumed operations in the Palestinian territory Tuesday.
A study published in early January in the British medical journal The Lancet estimated that the death toll in Gaza due to hostilities during the first nine months of fighting was about 40% higher than the figures recorded by the Gaza Health Ministry.
The ministry said its latest toll includes 233 people previously considered missing whose deaths had been confirmed.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed Hamas political leader Salah al-Bardaweel on Sunday, officials of the resistance group said, as residents reported an escalation in Israel's six-day-old military campaign.
The group said the airstrike on Khan Younis killed al-Bardaweel, a member of the Palestinian group's political office, and his wife. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.
In a statement, Hamas described Bardaweel's death as an "assassination."
"His blood, that of his wife and martyrs, will remain fuelling the battle of liberation and independence," said the group.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee, meanwhile, issued an evacuation warning on X for residents in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah in the south of the strip, saying the military was launching an onslaught.
Dozens of families quit their homes in Tel al-Sultan heading northward to Khan Younis, some on foot, while others carried their belongings and children on donkey carts and rickshaws.
"When the cease-fire began, we returned to put up tents next to the ruins of our homes, dreaming that soon our homes would be rebuilt," said Abu Khaled, a Rafah resident.
"Now we are fleeing under fire for maybe the 10th time, when will we ever rest? When will there ever be peace in this city?" he told Reuters via a chat app.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said the main aim of the war is to destroy Hamas as a military and governing entity. He has said the aim of the new campaign is to force the group to give up the remaining hostages.
Hamas' de facto government head Essam Addalees and internal security chief Mahmoud Abu Watfa were among those killed by Israeli strikes Tuesday, in addition to several other officials.
The group has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January cease-fire agreement by refusing to begin negotiations for an end to the war and a withdrawal of its troops from Gaza. But Hamas has said it is still willing to negotiate and was studying "bridging" proposals from U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
The return to the air strikes and ground operations that have devastated Gaza has drawn calls for a cease-fire from Arab and European countries. Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement calling on Israel to restore access for humanitarian aid.
Israel has blocked the entry of goods into Gaza and Netanyahu's foreign policy adviser, Ophir Falk, accused Hamas of taking aid for its own use, a charge Hamas has previously denied.
