The death toll from the Israel-Hamas war has exceeded 73,000 Palestinians, Gaza's Health Ministry announced on Sunday, even as a fragile ceasefire — brokered by the United States in October 2025 — remains nominally in effect. The ministry, staffed by medical professionals and considered generally reliable by United Nations agencies, recorded 73,001 deaths since the war began on 7 October 2023, along with more than 173,200 wounded. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but notes that women and children account for roughly half of all fatalities. Nearly 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took hold; five Israeli soldiers have also died since the truce.
On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike near Al-Yeman Al-Saeed Hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp — a densely populated area in northern Gaza — killed at least four people and wounded others. Two additional Palestinians were killed in separate shooting incidents in Khan Younis, in the south, and Gaza City. A 13-year-old boy was among five Palestinians killed in strikes the previous night. The Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants and acting in response to ceasefire violations, but did not provide details on specific incidents. Israel maintains that civilian casualties result from Hamas operating within populated areas; Hamas disputes this framing.
The ceasefire, which ended full-scale military operations and secured the return of the remaining hostages held since the October 2023 Hamas-led attack that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis, has since stalled on its deeper commitments. Israeli forces have advanced rather than withdrawn from parts of Gaza, while Hamas has refused to disarm. Both sides accuse the other of violations, yet both say the truce technically remains in place. Nickolay Mladenov, the senior diplomat overseeing the US-brokered deal, has said that progress on reconstruction, Israeli troop withdrawals and the formation of a new Palestinian governing authority is blocked by the deadlock over Hamas disarmament.
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye wrapped up week-long talks on Sunday aimed at implementing the second phase of what has been described as US President Donald Trump's Gaza plan — a blueprint that would require Hamas to disarm and Israeli forces to withdraw. Hamas and other Palestinian factions said they submitted a written response to a 15-point proposal put forward by the mediators and Trump's Board of Peace. Sources close to the talks indicated the factions accepted 14 of the 15 points, with the remaining disagreement centred on disarmament. Hamas has said it will only consider full disarmament as part of a broader political process leading toward Palestinian statehood, a condition Israel flatly rejects.
The broader humanitarian toll remains severe. The war has displaced most of Gaza's more than two million residents, reduced large portions of the territory to rubble, and created acute shortages of food, medicine and basic supplies, with almost all border crossings — the majority of which are controlled by Israel — having been closed for extended periods. Progress toward reconstruction and a political settlement appears distant as long as the fundamental dispute over Hamas's future role in Gaza remains unresolved.