Gaza death toll crosses 74,000 as Iran awaits US response
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has crossed 74,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, as fighting and diplomacy across the wider Middle East remained unsettled on Sunday. In another key development, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was still waiting for a US response through mediators after President Donald Trump rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume negotiations.
The latest developments also included continued Israeli strikes in Gaza despite a ceasefire, fresh fighting in Yemen that the World Health Organisation said has killed nearly 700 people since last month, and a gathering in Beirut to mark two years since former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed. Separately, Israel's ambassador to the United States said his son remained in critical condition after a ramming attack in the occupied West Bank last week.
Speaking from New York, Araghchi told NBC that Iran is "fully prepared for the war to be resumed". He added: "At the same time, we stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose." Trump told Axios he expects US negotiators to hold more talks this week. Araghchi had earlier told Iranian state media that Tehran's conditions for reopening the strait remained unchanged and there would be "no backing down from them".
In Gaza, the Health Ministry said on Saturday that the Palestinian death toll had risen to 74,016, with 175,068 wounded. The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage. A ceasefire that took effect on October 10 last year stopped the heaviest fighting, but Israeli strikes have continued in what the military has described as responses to threats or attacks.
Since the ceasefire, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed, according to the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government. It keeps detailed records that UN agencies and international organisations generally view as reliable, though it does not distinguish between civilians and militants. Seven Israeli soldiers have also been killed since the ceasefire. The next steps in the US-brokered truce remain largely stalled, with Israeli forces controlling more than half of Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying they will not withdraw until Hamas disarms.
Israeli strikes in central and southern Gaza killed at least two Palestinians and wounded several others, hospital officials said. In Gaza City, a strike hit a car, killing one person and injuring several others, according to Shifa Hospital. Footage showed a chaotic scene around the charred vehicle. Israel's military said it had targeted a military operative. In a separate strike in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis, one person was killed and three others were wounded, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel's military said it had targeted a Hamas militant.
In Yemen, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels accused Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces of striking a market in Taiz province and killing at least seven people. Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry, said the strike hit shops in the district of Taiziyah and wounded at least 40 others, including five children. The military of Yemen's internationally recognised government rejected the claim, saying it had attacked Houthi "warehouses and positions" in northern, southern and western Taiz and left "dozens of dead and wounded" among the rebels. Fierce fighting has continued on Yemen's Red Sea coast as government forces try to reverse recent Houthi advances, and the WHO says almost 700 people have been killed since the escalation last month.
In Beirut's southern suburbs, thousands gathered to mark the second anniversary of Nasrallah's death in an Israeli airstrike. In a video address, his successor Naim Kassem repeated Hezbollah's refusal to disarm while Israeli forces remain in southern Lebanon. "With regard to disarmament, we have told (the government) that we are ready for dialogue, but first the south must be liberated, and its people return," he said. The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when the Iran-backed group fired missiles across the border two days after the US and Israel attacked Iran. Israel responded with bombardment and a ground invasion and now occupies a large area in the south. Lebanon's government signed a US-brokered agreement in June under which Israeli forces would gradually withdraw in exchange for Hezbollah disarming, but Hezbollah was not part of the talks and implementation has stalled.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said on social media that his son Neria Leiter's life "still hangs in the balance" after he was gravely injured in a ramming attack in the occupied West Bank last week. "But we've seen some promising signs that we grasp in hope," Leiter said, while asking for prayers for his son. Overall, Sunday's developments pointed to continued violence, stalled negotiations and unresolved conflict across Gaza, Iran, Yemen and Lebanon.
