The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has topped 50,000, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Sunday.
In the past 24 hours, 41 bodies and 61 wounded people were brought to hospitals across Gaza, bringing the total death toll to 50,021, with 113,274 injured since fighting erupted in early October 2023, the statement said.
Since a new wave of Israeli airstrikes began on March 18, at least 673 people have been killed and 1,233 wounded, the health authorities said.
Also on Sunday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned that Israel's three-week blockade of aid to Gaza is accelerating a hunger crisis.
"No food, no medicines, no water, no fuel. A siege more stringent than during the initial phase of the war," the agency posted on social media platform X.
It emphasized that Gaza's population relies on imports for survival, with children increasingly facing starvation and disease as aid remains blocked.
Israel halted all supply entries to Gaza on March 2, citing security concerns.
Salah al-Bardawil, a senior Hamas leader and member of its political bureau, was killed Sunday along with his wife in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his tent inside a camp for displaced persons west of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian media reports.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpasses 50,000 as Israel continues military operation
Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpasses 50,000 as Israel continues military operation
Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpasses 50,000 as Israel continues military operation
China's southernmost island province of Hainan, which is intensifying efforts to build itself into a free trade port (FTP), stands ready to work with international counterparts to promote cooperation in five key areas, said the provincial governor while speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) 2025.
At a BFA subforum titled the Global Free Trade Ports Development Forum on Tuesday, Governor Liu Xiaoming addressed attendees, stressing that Hainan seeks to strengthen interconnectivity with free trade zones and ports around the world in terms of five key areas, including rules and mechanisms, infrastructure, trade in services and other industries, low-carbon and sustainable development, as well as dialogue and exchanges.
He said the province is currently ramping up efforts to build the Hainan Free Trade Port, with an aim to establish independent customs operations this year.
"The mission of the free trade zone port is to break down barriers, not to build walls, and to create opportunities, not to pursue their own interests. We are currently stepping up the implementation of the plan for turning the whole island into a separate customs zone and the implementation of core policies for the Hainan Free Trade Port. We are advancing preparations to ensure that the island-wide independent customs operations will be successfully realized as scheduled by the end of 2025," said Liu.
At the forum, guests said that the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port is an important measure for China to advance high-level opening up and has become a critical part of the building of an open world economy.
They also stressed that the Hainan Free Trade Port has built a bridge for win-win development for its partners worldwide by establishing partnerships with 38 free trade zones and ports across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.
Speaking at the subforum, Ban Ki-moon, the chairman of Boao Forum for Asia and the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, lauded the island province's efforts to build a thriving economy that will benefit the whole region. China's opening-up at a high level undoubtedly is of great significance and will bring new opportunities for Asia and the wide world. During the past seven years, my colleagues and I have witnessed with our own eyes how the province has transformed and reinvented itself. From infrastructure, services, tropical agriculture, to high-tech industries, Hainan is well on its way to becoming a powerful magnet for global talents, capital and resources," said Ban.
With the theme "Asia in the Changing World: Towards a Shared Future," the BFA Annual Conference 2025, which opened on Tuesday, will be held through Friday.
Hainan FTP to boost cooperation with global partners: governor
