The death toll in Gaza passes 40,000 as Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire talks begin in Doha

As talks on a new Gaza ceasefire began in Qatar, the Gaza Strip's health ministry said the death toll in the territory had exceeded 40,000.

Comprehensive foreign news reports, by the United States, Qatar and Egypt mediated a new round of Israel-Kazakhstan ceasefire and release of hostages and prisoners negotiations, local time Thursday (August 15) afternoon in the Qatari capital Doha began. The Israeli delegation included David Barnea, head of the Mossad intelligence agency, Ronen Bar, head of the internal security service, and Nitzan Alon, head of the military's hostage affairs.

Thursday's closed-door meeting was called by Qatar's prime minister. Cia Director Burns, U.S. Middle East envoy Stephen McGurk and Egyptian intelligence chief Ahmed Kamal attended the talks.

Hamas officials, who previously accused Israel of stalling, did not attend the talks. However, officials with knowledge of the talks told Reuters that mediators planned to consult with Hamas' negotiating team in Doha after the meeting.

In an interview with CNN, U.S. National Security spokesman John Kirby said the White House is calling on all parties to come to the Gaza cease-fire talks in Doha to reach an agreement, while urging both sides to compromise and saying progress is still possible in the coming days.

Kirby also said there is information that Iran has not given up on attacking Israel, including possibly through proxies, and that the United States is monitoring the situation closely and is prepared, but "hopefully it won't come to that."

The conflict between Israel and Kazakhstan has lasted for more than 10 months, and multiple rounds of ceasefire negotiations have failed to achieve substantial progress, and the death toll in the Gaza Strip is rising. Earlier Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 40,05 Palestinians had been killed and 92,401 wounded in Israeli military operations in Gaza. In the past 24 hours, 40 people have been killed and 107 injured.

Israel has repeatedly questioned the credibility of the daily figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry, as did U.S. President Joe Biden in the early days of the war. However, several United Nations agencies working in Gaza say the figures are credible and are often cited by international organizations.

Health officials at Gaza medical facilities first identify the bodies by the naked eye of relatives or friends, or by personal belongings, and then enter the details of the deceased, including name, gender, date of birth and identification number, into the Health ministry's digital database, an AFP reporter witnessed.

If the body is unidentifiable or unclaimed, staff will record the death under a number and record all available information. Any features that might help later identify the deceased, whether personal items or birthmarks, are collected and photographed.

The Gaza Ministry of Health also has a process for identifying and transmitting data related to recording information about the dead.

However, the study found that the Gaza Ministry of Health's data has become less accurate as the war has continued, which the analysis attributed to the severe damage to the health infrastructure caused by the war. For example, of the 400 computers at the Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, only 50 are working today.

Israeli authorities have often criticized Gaza Health Ministry figures for failing to distinguish between combatants and civilians. But neither the Israeli military nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied the scale of the total casualties. According to previous estimates by the Hamas government press office in Gaza, of the approximately 40,000 dead, nearly 70 percent were women (about 11,000) or children (at least 16,300).