At least 29,092 Palestinians have been killed and 69,028 injured in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said today.
In the past 24 hours, 107 Palestinians were killed and 145 injured, the ministry added in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until “total victory” against Hamas, raising fears that troops will soon move into the southernmost town of Rafah on the Egyptian border, where over half of Gaza`s 2.3 million people have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its records, but says around two-thirds of those killed were women and children. It says over 69,000 Palestinians have been wounded.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage.
More than 100 captives were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November in exchange for 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Militants still hold around 130, a fourth of them believed to be dead.
Israel responded to the attack by launching one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history on the besieged enclave, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007.
The war, which shows no sign of ending, has driven around 80% of the Palestinians in Gaza from their homes and has left a quarter of the population starving, according to U.N. officials.
