Palestinian officials said 10,569 people have now been killed, 40 percent of them children NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that the number of civilians killed in the Gaza Strip shows that there is something “clearly wrong” with Israel’s military operations against Hamas Palestinian militants. “There are violations by Hamas when they have human shields. But when one looks at the number of civilians that were killed with the military operations, there is something that is clearly wrong,” Guterres said. Israel has vowed to wipe out Hamas after the militants killed 1,400 people and took more than 240 hostages in an Oct. 7 attack. Palestinian officials said 10,569 people have now been killed, 40 percent of them children. “It is also important to make Israel understand that it is against the interests of Israel to see every day the terrible image of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people,” Guterres said. “That doesn’t help Israel in relation to the global public opinion.” Guterres compared the number of children being killed in Gaza with the toll in conflicts around the world that he reports on annually. “Every year, the highest number of killings of children by any of the actors in all the conflicts that we witness is the maximum in the hundreds,” Guterres said. “We have in a few days in Gaza thousands and thousands of children killed, which means there is also something clearly wrong in the way military operations are being done,” he said. Meanwhile, a senior Israeli official said in Washington that Israel does not intend to “reoccupy” Gaza or control it for a long time. “We assess that our current operations are effective and successful, and we’ll continue to push,” the Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It’s not unlimited or forever,” the official added, without giving a specific timeframe. “It’s not Israel’s intention to reoccupy Gaza or control it for a long time,” the senior Israeli official said, adding that “our operation is not open-ended.” “The idea behind Israel going in militarily is to destroy Hamas’ ability to threaten us,” the official said. “We understand that will take time and that, even if we complete this phase of our military operation, we’ll still have to take some action against their remaining military infrastructure.”