Israel-Hamas war: How many people have been killed?

GAZA CITY, GAZA - OCTOBER 16: Palestinians look for their belongings among the rubble of their destroyed houses as Israeli attacks continue on the 10th day in Gaza City, Gaza on October 16, 2023. (Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Palestinians look for their belongings among the rubble of their destroyed houses as Israeli attacks continue in Gaza City. (Getty Images)

The UK government is pressing Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to allow Britons to flee Gaza.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday than the Israeli military operation must focus on Hamas militants.

With Israel expected to launch an air, land and sea offensive, the combat is likely to be "horrendous", warned armed forces minister James Heappey.

Attempts to broker a ceasefire between Egypt, Israel and the US failed on Monday, Reuters reported.

There have been desperate calls for the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, the only crossing into the territory not controlled by Israel, to be reopened.

More than one million people out of the Gaza Strip's population of 2.3 million have been forced from their homes by Israeli air strikes, the United Nations said.

Israeli soldiers walk past a house destroyed in the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on kibbutz Beeri near the border with Gaza, on October 14, 2023. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants entered Israel in a surprise attack leading Israel to declare war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip enclave on October 8. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli soldiers walk past a house destroyed in the 7 October attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on kibbutz Be'eri near the border with Gaza. (Getty Images)

Mr Heappey, the armed forces minister, issued a warning on the impact on civilians of combat in Gaza.

“I think you have to be clear that international law allows Israel to prosecute a mission that is legal, proportionate and necessary, and that, I’m afraid, does not necessarily mean that Israel has to be able to guarantee that there will be no civilian loss of life,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

“It is almost inevitable, given the complexity of the mission, that there will be (an) innocent civilian population that is very badly affected. I just don’t think there’s any point pretending otherwise.”

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Yahoo News UK sets out the latest death toll as of Monday afternoon.

Israel death toll

Israel has said more than 1,400 of its citizens have been killed since Saturday 7 October, including children.

Among the dead are 260 people who were killed in a massacre at the Supernova music festival in the Negev desert near Re'im.

More than 3,500 have been wounded.

A picture taken on October 10, 2023 shows the abandoned site of the weekend attack of the Supernova desert music Festival by Palestinian militants near Kibbutz Reim in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Hamas gunmen killed around 270 revellers who were attending an outdoor rave music festival in an Israeli community near Gaza at the weekend, a volunteer who helped collect the bodies said on October 9. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
The abandoned site of the Supernova desert music festival in Israel, where 260 people were killed by Hamas militants. (AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's military has said that 199 hostages, including women and children, are being held in Gaza after being kidnapped.

Palestinian death toll

The Palestinian health ministry said on Monday afternoon that at least 2,750 Palestinians have been killed, including children, and 9,700 wounded, in Israeli air strikes on the blockaded enclave since Saturday 7 October.

More than 1,000 people are also feared missing under the rubble.

Violence has also erupted in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with 58 people dead and more than 1,250 people injured.

Palestinians stand by a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the Rafah border, Gaza Strip, on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
Palestinians stand by a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike at the Rafah border in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo)

The United Nations has said that more than one million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli air strikes.

Read more on Israel and Gaza:

Israel-Hamas war: 5 key developments on Sunday (Yahoo News UK)
Palestinians struggling to flee south in Gaza after Israel’s evacuation order (The National)
Six-month-old baby named among Britons feared abducted by Hamas (Evening Standard)

British death toll

Some 17 British citizens are feared dead or missing in Israel, both the BBC and Sky News have reported.

It is not clear exactly how many British nationals are being held hostage in Gaza, but on Sunday the foreign secretary told Sky News that 10 was "not an unreasonable estimate".

At least 29 American citizens were killed in the 7 October attacks, the US State Department has confirmed.

Thailand said 24 of its citizens had been killed. France said 19 of its citizens have died, while 13 remain missing.

Watch: Drone shots show the extent of the devastation in Gaza