Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 52,567

The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 52,567, with 118,610 others injured since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in early October 2023, according to a statement released Monday by Gaza-based health authorities.

The statement said that since Israel resumed intensive airstrikes on March 18, following the collapse of a two-month ceasefire, at least 2,459 Palestinians have been killed and 6,569 injured.

In the past 24 hours alone, 23 Palestinians were killed and 119 others injured in Israeli military operations across the enclave, while the bodies of nine people killed in earlier attacks were found, according to Gaza's civil defense and health authorities.

According to Palestinian media reports, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn on Monday have killed more than 50 people.

The strikes targeted Gaza City in the north, Khan Yunis in the south, and the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol warned on Thursday that the global oil market may enter a "red zone" in July and August this year, as fuel demand rise and stocks dwindle.

Birol noted that the supply crisis triggered by the situation in the Middle East was initially cushioned by spare capacity in the global oil market, but that oil stocks are now gradually decreasing.

The 32 members of the IEA on March 11 unanimously agreed to make 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves available to the market in response to disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.

The IEA stands ready to coordinate further reserve releases if necessary, Birol added.