Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 58,026

The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 58,026, with 138,520 injured since the conflict between Hamas and Israel erupted in 2023, Gaza's health authorities said in a statement on Sunday.

In the past 24 hours, Israeli military operations killed 139 people and injured 425 in Gaza, the statement said. Among the dead were 28 civilians waiting to receive aid.

Since the Israeli army resumed its military operations in the Gaza Strip on March 18 this year, 7,450 people have been killed and 26,479 injured.

On Sunday morning, Israel launched an airstrike on a busy market in the center of Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip, killing at least 12 Palestinians, including children.

That morning, the Israeli army also launched an airstrike on a water distribution point in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, leaving at least 10 people, including six children, dead, and 16 others injured.

The Gaza media office issued a statement on Sunday, saying that since the U.S.- and Israel-backed "Gaza Humanitarian Fund" began operating in the war-torn region, a total of 805 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access humanitarian aid. As the vast majority of them died near the "Gaza Humanitarian Fund" material distribution points, the statement called the distribution points as "death traps."

Since May 27, the "Gaza Humanitarian Fund" has unilaterally "taken over" the distribution of aid supplies in the Gaza Strip, bypassing UN agencies.

According to eyewitnesses and multiple sources, Israeli soldiers have frequently shot dead aid seekers near the distribution points set up by the private organization.

Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, met with the European Parliament's delegation for relations with China led by chair Engin Eroglu in Beijing on Wednesday.

Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China is willing to work with the European Union (EU) to strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation, and pursue mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.

He said China stands ready to join hands with the EU to address global challenges, promote exchanges and cooperation among legislative bodies, effectively utilize communication mechanisms, and advance the sound and stable development of China-EU relations.

Eroglu said the EU stands ready to work with China to contribute to the development of EU-China relations.