Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that’s more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price–we think the price is worth it.
—60 Minutes (5/12/96)
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WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) – When Joe Biden met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet during his visit to Israel, the U.S. president assured them: “I don’t believe you have to be a Jew to be a Zionist, and I am a Zionist.”
The politicians and generals gathered in the ballroom of the Tel Aviv hotel nodded in approval, according to a U.S. official knowledgeable of the closed-door remarks, even as Israel bombarded Gaza in retaliation for a devastating attack by Palestinian Hamas militants and with a ground invasion looming.
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Israel’s yearlong offensive in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction in the besieged coastal enclave.
Here are some figures that show the scale of death and devastation. Sources include the Israeli government, the Gaza Health Ministry and U.N. agencies.
The Oct. 7 attack
Number of people killed in Israel: Around 1,200
Number taken hostage into Gaza: 251
Number of living hostages in Gaza: 66, including 2 from before Oct. 7
Number of captives in Gaza believed to be dead: 35, including 2 from before Oct. 7
The Israel-Hamas war
Number of Palestinians killed in Gaza: Over 41,000
Number of Palestinians wounded in Gaza: Over 96,000
Number of militants the Israeli military says it has killed: Over 17,000
Number of Israeli soldiers killed since Oct. 7: Over 720
Number of rockets fired at Israel from Gaza since Oct. 7: Over 9,500
Displacement
Number of Palestinians displaced in Gaza: Around 1.9 million
Percentage of Gaza’s population that have been displaced: Around 90%
Number of Israelis displaced by attacks from Gaza at their peak: Over 58,000
Number of Israelis currently displaced from the south: Around 5,300
Percentage of Gaza’s territory placed under Israeli evacuation orders: Around 90%
Destruction in Gaza
Number of structures moderately damaged or destroyed: Over 120,000
Number of housing units damaged or destroyed: Over 215,000
Percentage of structures damaged or destroyed: 66
Total estimated cost of damage from the war’s first three months: $18.5 billion
Highest GDP ever reported in the West Bank and Gaza, in 2022: $19.17 billion
Damage to Gaza’s infrastructure
Percentage of primary roads damaged or destroyed: Over 92
Percentage of health facilities damaged or destroyed: Over 84
Percentage of water and sanitation facilities damaged or destroyed: 67
Daily amount of untreated water and sewage flowing into the sea from Gaza: 60,000 cubic meters
Length of electrical grid destroyed: 510 kilometers (320 miles)
– THE ASSOCIATED PRESS