(FILES) An aerial view shows mourners watching as medical personnel prepare the bodies of 47 Palestinians, that were taken and later released by Israel, during a mass funeral in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 7, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas. A steadily climbing death toll, reported by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, nears 40,000 people killed in Gaza on August 5,2024 since war between Israel and Palestinian militants broke out on October 7, 2023. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP)