The death toll in Gaza passed 57,000 on Wednesday, health authorities in the enclave reported, as reports of a potential new ceasefire agreement – announced by US president Donald Trump – remained unclear.
The Gazan health ministry said 142 bodies had been received by hospitals in the previous 24 hours, with the total death toll since October 7th, 2023, now at 57,012. Some 487 more people were injured, bringing the total number of injuries to 134,592.
Those killed on Wednesday included Dr Marwan Sultan, the director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, who the Gaza health authorities said died “along with a number of his family members ... after the occupation targeted his home in Gaza City”. Other reports said Dr Sultan’s wife and children were killed too. A spokesperson for the Israeli military said it “struck a key terrorist” and the “claim ... uninvolved civilians were harmed is being reviewed”.
On Tuesday evening, Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform saying Israel had “agreed to the necessary conditions” to finalise a 60-day ceasefire, “during which time we will work with all parties to end the War”.
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“The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal. I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better – IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.”
Hamas said it was examining new ceasefire offers received from mediators Egypt and Qatar, but repeated that it wants an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
A previous ceasefire, which came into force in January, was broken by Israel in March after it attempted to change the terms of the agreement.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu – who is due to meet the US president in Washington, DC, next Monday – spoke publicly during a visit to the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company for the first time since Mr Trump’s pronouncement. “We will eliminate Hamas down to its very foundations,” he said. “We will free all of our hostages.”
The Israeli government press office says 20 of 50 hostages remaining in Gaza are confirmed to be alive.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa, called a ceasefire deal “paramount”, saying “it’s so desperately needed and long overdue”. He also said that “principled, dignified and at scale humanitarian assistance needs to resume” under the UN.
More than 200 NGOs have called for an end to the US-backed Israeli-controlled aid distribution scheme, which has led to hundreds of deaths.
The latest developments came as the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade held hearings on the Occupied Territories Bill on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Bill would prohibit the importation of goods from Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, which are considered illegal under international law.
Campaigners are pushing for services to be added to the Bill as well, saying Ireland has an obligation to do so following an International Court of Justice advisory opinion last year.
Meanwhile, a senior United States politician accused the Republic of going down a “hateful, anti-Semitic path”.
US Senate foreign relations committee chairman senator Jim Risch said the Occupied Territories Bill “will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering” for the State.
