Updated March 23, 2025 at 09:05 AM ET
TEL AVIV, Israel, and GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israel's war with Hamas has surpassed 50,000, according to health officials in Gaza.
Gaza's Health Ministry said Sunday the Palestinian death toll in Gaza had risen to 50,021 since Israel's military offensive began in October 2023, following the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
It is the latest milestone in the conflict, which reignited when Israel broke a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant group last Tuesday.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas led an attack from Gaza into Israel that killed almost 1,200 people and took 251 captive, according to Israeli government figures. Israel responded with a military campaign to destroy Hamas and free the hostages. Negotiations to end the war broke down last week.
New southern offensive
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it was ordering mass evacuations of Palestinians from southern Gaza, as it launched an offensive in a part of Rafah. Many Palestinians had just returned to their homes, during a ceasefire that began in January, after months of being displaced by the fighting.
Last week, the Israeli military also said it had retaken parts of the Netzarim Corridor which divides south and north Gaza. The corridor is a fortified strip of land that troops had withdrawn from at the beginning of the ceasefire in January. Thousands of Palestinians there are now facing mass evacuation orders just weeks after returning home.
Fleeing Tel al-Sultan near Rafah, Ahmad Kullab told NPR that there was intense shooting and shelling in his neighborhood Saturday night.
"The Israelis started to shoot at us as we were going out through the safe zone," he said. "Tanks are now advancing towards us, firing rounds and causing chaos in the streets."
Um Ahmad Saidam said she was fleeing Tel al-Sultan with her family when she said a strike killed her husband and daughter.
"A rocket fell right in between us and their bodies shattered in front of my eyes," she said, speaking at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Ceasefire pressures
Israel is trying to pressure Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which ended on March 1. Over six weeks, Hamas released 33 hostages and Israel freed almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails.
The second phase, in which talks designed to end the war were due to begin, did not start because Israel demanded more hostages be released before entering end-of-war talks. Israel began blocking food, fuel, electricity, aid and medical supplies to Gaza to pressure Hamas to accept its conditions. That blockade has continued and is entering its fourth week.
President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, proposed that Hamas would release around half of the remaining hostages in exchange for an extension of the ceasefire and a resumption of aid to Gaza, during which talks would start for a permanent end of the war. Hamas said it would release one live dual American-Israeli hostage if talks toward a permanent end of war began immediately.
Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Daniel Estrin reported from Tel Aviv, Anas Baba from Gaza City.
Copyright 2025 NPR
