First, the most important news. At last count, the death toll, as reported by Gaza’s ministry of health, stands at 37,232 people, including more than 15,000 children, with a further 84,932 people wounded. It’s not known how many people are buried beneath the rubble of the more than half of Gaza’s buildings that are reported to have been destroyed.
But it’s equally important to note that the violence began on October 7 when Hamas launched its savage attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage. Of those, 116 remain in Hamas hands, although one-third of these are now thought to have died.
Meanwhile the talking continues. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was wearing his exasperation very much on his sleeve when he reported on June 12 that Hamas wants more changes to the ceasefire deal the White House had thought was oven ready. Or, as he put it: “A deal that the entire world is behind, that Israel has accepted, and Hamas could have answered with a single word: ‘yes’.
