More than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza and occupied West Bank

Gaza Health Ministry says most of the deaths there have been women and children

Palestinians mourn at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli strike in Al Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on August 7, 2024. EPA

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More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since the start of Israel's war on the enclave, which entered its eleventh month on Wednesday, according to the latest death toll provided by Gaza health authorities.

Israeli attacks in the West Bank have killed 620 people, including 145 children and nine women, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

In Gaza, the death toll rose to 39,699, with more than 91,700 injured since the war broke out on October 7 after a Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people.

The ministry says most of the deaths there have been of women and children.

Palestinian militants had seized over 250 Israeli hostages, 111 of who are thought to be still held in Gaza. While 116 were released in short-lived agreements by both sides, there is no firm number for those believed to be still alive.

Regional war fears

The Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip has already drawn in Iran-backed militants in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

Tensions in the Middle East have soared following the assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut last week.

Iran blames Mr Haniyeh's death on Israel and has vowed to avenge him, while Hamas's Lebanese ally Hezbollah has also pledged to retaliate for his killing and that of Mr Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut hours earlier.

The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation held a meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday warning of a regional conflict amid mounting fear that the war in Gaza could spread to Lebanon.

The war has shocked international observers calling for Israel to rein in the devastation wrought on Gaza, where about 60 per cent of buildings have been destroyed or damaged and health systems and other services have collapsed, leading to waves of disease outbreaks.

The World Health Organisation is currently organising a shipment of 1.2 million polio vaccines to Gaza after the disease, which can paralyse children, was detected in wastewater. It comes despite a more than two decade global effort to eradicate the disease, which is rare and only found in the world's most remote and impoverished communities.

Turkey on Wednesday filed its official request to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel over its conduct in the war in Gaza in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the Foreign Ministry said.

Turkey had announced in May that it had decided to join the case – formally known as submitting a declaration of official intervention – and would make the necessary legal preparations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it had made the formal request on Wednesday.

“The international community must do its part to stop the genocide and exert the necessary pressure on Israel and its supporters,” Mr Fidan said in a post on X.

“Turkey will make every effort to do so,” he added.

The court will make the final decision of admission to the case.

South Africa brought its case against Israel in December, accusing it of state-led genocide in Gaza.

In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians.