According to Xinhua News, a Chinese government backed news agency, at least 2000 people have been killed on both sides of the Israel and Hamas conflict. Over 4000 injuries have been absorbed between the two warring groups. Additionally, the Israeli public broadcaster, Kan, notes that more than 1300 civilians, among them foreign nationals, have been killed by Hamas as part of their campaign in these disputed settlements. At the moment, fighting is still taking place in these border regions between Gaza and Israel.
Hamas effectively is the leading authority in Gaza, which has a civilian population of 2 million people. The war will not be a trivial matter in terms of loss of life for Gaza. It should be noted that they have publicly claimed responsibility for the indiscriminate of civilians, particularly, of women and children. The most egregious event so far took place in a Kibbutz called ‘Kfar Aza’.
Globally, civilians and government have taken positions. The official Chinese position has been to condemn the loss of civilian lives on both sides. The official US position has been to provide additional munitions and weapons to Israel. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has been deployed to Israel by the Biden administration in a show of militarized solidarity.
Latin American Leaders Affirm Neutrality
Some Latin American leaders have called for increased peaceful dialogue and attention to global climate change. Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, has condemned the killing of civilians in Gaza by Israel:
Mexico’s SRE (Foreign Secretary Relations) has sent a military escort to retrieve Mexican nationals in Jerusalem. The report on that evacuation is here.