Palestinian death toll passes grim 42,000 milestone as bloodshed continues

Israel's onslaught of Gaza has reached 42,000 dead and nearly 100,000 wounded in a year of attacks, as another airstrike hit a refugee camp, with the deaths of women and children

The death toll from Israel’s onslaught on Gaza passed another grim milestone, as the bloodshed continued across the Middle East.

Palestinian officials said more than 42,000 people have been killed and more than 97,000 wounded in a year of attacks. An airstrike on the Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least nine people, including two women and two children. Mohamed Awda, who lives with his parents and six siblings, said: “It’s like hell. We can’t get out. The quadcopters are everywhere, and they fire at anyone. You can’t even open the window.”

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until “total victory” over Hamas and the return of all the captives taken in the October 7 attacks, in which Hamas killed 1,200 people. He has warned Lebanon would meet the same fate as Gaza if its people did not rise up against Hezbollah militants.

US President Joe Biden and Mr Netanyahu held their first call in weeks. Mr Netanyahu’s office confirmed the PM had also spoken to Donald Trump. Israeli warplanes pushed on with air strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Mr Netanyahu was also finalising plans for a retaliatory operation against Iran in response to its 200-strong missile onslaught more than a week ago.

So far, operations in Lebanon appear to be focused on a narrow strip along the border, but Israel has warned people to evacuate dozens of cities and towns. Elsewhere, an Israeli couple were killed by a Hezbollah missile in northern Israel. The couple were walking their dogs in Kiryat Shemona, near the border with Lebanon, when they were hit by shrapnel from rockets.

Two people were left fighting for their lives and four more were wounded after a knifeman went on the rampage in the coastal city of Hadera. Police said the attacker, who was killed at the scene, was acting alone.