Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 62,686

The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 62,686, with 157,951 others injured since the conflict between Hamas and Israel erupted on Oct 7, 2023, Gaza's health authorities said in a statement on Sunday.

Over the past 24 hours alone, Israeli offensives in the enclave have killed 64 people and wounded 278 others, the statement noted.

Since Israel resumed military operations in Gaza on March 18 this year, 10,842 people have been killed and another 45,910 injured, according to the statement.

A statement released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on the same day said that one of its brigades had returned to the Jabalia region, near Gaza City, to carry out military operations.

According to the IDF, this move enables it to expand operations across a broader area around Gaza City.

The statement also said that the IDF is strengthening its control over the Jabalia region by removing both above-ground and underground Hamas facilities, further weakening the group's military capabilities.

So far, the IDF said its forces have discovered an underground tunnel, from which they removed armed personnel and infrastructure used to launch attacks against Israeli troops.

The Israeli security cabinet on Aug 8 approved a plan to defeat Hamas and to take over Gaza City, a move that sparked opposition and condemnation both at home and abroad.

Located in northern Gaza, Gaza City is regarded by Israel as a stronghold of Hamas and a location where hostages are being held.

On Aug 20, the Israeli military announced that it had taken control of the area surrounding Gaza City and is preparing to take over the city itself.

The military is planning to launch offensives against the city by mid-September, according to Israeli media outlets.

A statement released by Hamas on Sunday said the group strongly condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approval of the plan to take over Gaza City, which came after Hamas had accepted a new ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators.

Hamas said the decision showed that Israel was deliberately hindering efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.

The Gaza-based media office said in a statement on the same day that, against the backdrop of a threatened Israeli offensive on Gaza City, more than 2.4 million Palestinians are facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 62,686

China has remained the world's largest online retail market for a 13th consecutive year, with its digital consumption exceeding 23.8 trillion yuan (about 3.39 trillion U.S. dollars), official data shows.

The figure was released at a national e-commerce work conference held from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The conference said that China's e-commerce sector has achieved solid gains in high-quality development over the past five years, emerging as a new source of momentum to foster new quality productive forces and playing an important role in advancing the country's new development paradigm.

Despite rising external uncertainties, China has continued to expand its win-win cooperation, increasing the number of Silk Road e-commerce cooperation partner countries to 36.

E-commerce has become a major engine for job creation and industrial upgrading. Employment in the sector has surpassed 78 million, and express delivery volumes have seen an average annual growth of nearly 20 percent over the past five years.

Software and information services linked to cloud computing and big data have also expanded rapidly.

The conference outlined the Ministry of Commerce's e-commerce policy priorities for 2026, including strengthening innovation-driven growth, improving the country's development environment, and expanding international cooperation.

China remains world's largest online retail market for 13th straight year