The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Thursday, August 15, that the death toll has crossed 40,000 in the more than 10-month war between Israel and Palestinian militants. The ministry said at least 40,005 people have been killed in the war, including 40 in the previous 24 hours. Israel's offensive has also wounded 92,401 people and displaced over 85% of the population from their homes, the ministry said.
Thursday's announcement comes during new efforts to broker a cease-fire to the conflict, now in its 11th month. The count does not distinguish between civilians and militants. It reflects the magnitude of Israel's offensive in Gaza, one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. The war began on October 7 after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and dragging roughly 250 hostages to Gaza.
Also on Thursday, an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed two Palestinians, including a former prisoner released in November, Palestinian sources and the army said. It was the second such fatality within three days involving a former Palestinian inmate freed during a ceasefire in the Gaza war. "Two men, aged 18 and 20, were killed and seven people were wounded, one of them seriously, in Balata" refugee camp in Nablus, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.