Health ministry in Gaza says war death toll at 40,786

Partial strike in Israel over Gaza hostages

By AFP - Sep 02,2024 - Last updated at Sep 02,2024

Palestinians cross a street torn up by bulldozers during an Israeli raid in the centre of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on September 2, 2024 (AFP Photo)

GAZA STRIP, OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The health ministry in Gaza said Monday that at least 40,786 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, now in its 11th month.

The toll includes 48 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to ministry figures, which also list 94,224 people as wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.

A strike on Monday called by Israel's largest labour union shuttered parts of the country to pressure the government into reaching a Gaza deal to free hostages, though several sectors were unaffected.

The Histadrut trade union called a nationwide strike beginning at 6:00 am (0300 GMT), a day after mass demonstrations following the army's announcement that troops had recovered the bodies of six hostages "murdered" in a Gaza tunnel.

The commercial hub of Tel Aviv and the northern coastal city of Haifa heeded the strike calls and announced municipal services would be closed Monday.

The Haifa port also slowed down or ceased some of its activities, Histadrut spokesman Peter Lerner said on social media platform X.

The Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv saw some flights delayed, and none at all for two hours leading up to 10:00 am.

Private-run public transportation services were at least partly functional at midday.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Monday said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a deal for the release of hostages taken by Palestinian armed group Hamas.

Asked by reporters at the White House -- where Biden was arriving for a meeting with US negotiators -- if he thought the Israeli leader was doing enough on the issue, the president responded: "No."

Biden's meeting with the negotiators on the hostage-release deal comes after the deaths on Saturday of six captives in Gaza, including an American citizen.

The president said negotiators were "very close" to a final proposal to be presented to Israel and Hamas.

Biden's schedule was revised to make time for the White House meeting, which was also to be attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running to succeed him in November's presidential election.

A White House statement said he and Harris would meet "with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team following the murder of American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages by Hamas on Saturday, and discuss efforts to drive towards a deal that secures the release of the remaining hostages."

The United States, along with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar, has spent months pushing for a hostage-prisoner exchange and ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

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