The number of people killed in the Gaza Strip has crossed 10,000, the Ministry of Health in Gaza, reported. Israeli forces began bombing the region on October 7, exactly one month ago, in retaliation for an attack by Hamas that killed 1,400 Israelis.

The Ministry of Health is part of the Hamas-controlled government. At the same time, the director of the largest hospital in Gaza City said that over 200 people were killed in hundreds of airstrikes that Israel said it carried out during Sunday night.

The 10,000 death toll was reached just hours after Pope Francis issued yet another plea for an end to the bloodshed. "In God’s name, I beg you to stop: cease using weapons!" the pontiff said on the social media platform X.

Just hours before, the heads of all 18 major UN agencies issued a rare joint statement calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas, and expressing outrage at the civilian death toll in Gaza.