Palestinian death toll in the 21-month-long war in Gaza tops 58,000, Gaza health officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 19 people on Sunday, including six children at a water collection point, local health officials said, despite attempts by mediators to bring about a ceasefire.

Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in talks meant to pause the 21-month war and free some Israeli hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington last week to discuss the deal with the Trump administration, but a new sticking point has emerged over the deployment of Israeli troops during the truce, raising questions over the feasibility of a new deal.

Israel wants to keep forces in what it says is an important land corridor in southern Gaza. Hamas views the insistence on troops in that strip of land as an indication that Israel intends to continue the war once a temporary ceasefire expires.

Israel says it will only end the war once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, less than half said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has also surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where funerals were held Sunday for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, 20, who was killed in an attack by Israeli settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Children killed at a water collection point

In Gaza, officials at Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said it received 10 bodies after an Israeli strike on a water collection point in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza. Among the dead were six children, the hospital said.

Ramadan Nassar, a witness who lives in the area, told The Associated Press that around 20 children and 14 adults were lined up Sunday morning to fill up water. When the strike occurred, everyone ran and some, including those who were severely injured, fell to the ground, he said.

He said Palestinians walk some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) to fetch water from the area.

In the central town of Zawaida, an Israeli strike on a home killed nine, including two women and three children, officials at Al- Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said.

The Israeli military said it struck more than 150 targets over the past day, without commenting directly on the specific strikes. Israel blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militant group operates out of populated areas.

In the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

Funeral held for Palestinian-American killed in the West Bank

In the West Bank, where violence between Israeli troops and Palestinians has been compounded by attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers, funerals were held for a Palestinian-American and a Palestinian friend of his.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Musallet, a Florida native, was killed after being beaten by Israeli settlers. Diana Halum, a cousin, said the attack occurred on his family’s land. The Health Ministry initially identified him as Seifeddine Musalat, 23.

Musallet’s friend, Mohammed al-Shalabi, was shot in the chest, according to the ministry.

On Sunday, their bodies were carried through the streets of Al-Mazraa a-Sharqiya, a town south of where they were killed. Mourners, waving Palestinian flags, chanted “God is great.”

In a statement Saturday, Musallet’s family said he was “a kind, hard-working, and deeply-respected young man, working to build his dreams.” It said he built a business in Tampa, Florida, and that he was deeply connected to his Palestinians heritage.

Musallet’s family said it wants the U.S. State Department to investigate his death and hold the settlers accountable. The State Department said it was aware of the reports of his death but had no comment out of respect for the family.

Israel’s military has said Palestinians hurled rocks at Israelis in the area on Friday, lightly wounding two people and setting off a larger confrontation.

Palestinians and rights groups have long accused the military of ignoring settler violence.

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Isseid reported from Al-Mazraa a-Sharqiya, West Bank. Associated Press writer Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Wafaa Shurafa And Imad Isseid, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Palestinian death toll in the 21-month-long war in Gaza tops 58,000, Gaza health officials say

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