Jerusalem, Nov 2 (EFE).- The death toll from the relentless Israeli bombings of the besieged Gaza Strip, governed by the Islamist Hamas group, has crossed 9,000, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The Israeli military began pounding the Palestinian enclave on Oct.7 when hundreds of Hamas militants launched a multi-pronged attack on Israel, killing more than 1,400 Israelis and taking over 200 as hostages into Gaza.
Since the war, 9,061 people have died in Gaza, the Gazan health ministry said. The dead include 3,760 children, 2,326 women, and 135 healthcare professionals.
The Israeli attacks have injured 32,000 Gazans.
At least 25 ambulances have been destroyed in Gaza in the Israeli aerial strikes.
The health ministry has called on all parties to urgently provide safe passage for medical aid to Gaza and has warned of an impending health catastrophe as the generators at Al Shifa Hospital, the main medical center in the enclave, run the risk of ceasing to function.
Since the start of the hostilities, 16 hospitals in Gaza have gone out of service due to Israeli airstrikes and a lack of fuel, including the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the only facility in the strip that treats cancer patients.
On the 27th day of the war with Hamas, Israel’s military continued to advance toward the Gaza city, sparking intense clashes in the north of the enclave.
Meanwhile, at least three Palestinians, including a minor, were killed on Thursday by Israeli gunfire in the towns of Qalqilya and Al Bireh in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry, two people, one of them a 14-year-old, died in Al Bireh, north of Ramallah, after the Israeli army opened fire.
The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, said Israeli special forces first infiltrated Al Bireh, and shortly afterward, military vehicles entered the city while firing live rounds and tear gas.
The Israeli military arrested two Palestinians.
Meanwhile, in Qalqilya, in the northwest of the West Bank, another Palestinian died on Thursday, and several were injured.
Wafa reported that the Israeli army entered the Nizal neighborhood in Qalqilya and fired live rounds, launched stun grenades, and used tear gas.
The agency noted that one of the wounded is a 15-year-old.
On the other hand, the health ministry and Wafa reported that a 14-year-old teenager died from injuries sustained on Monday during an Israeli raid in the village of Zawata in Nablus.
The occupied West Bank is gripped by the deadliest spiral of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-05).
The situation has deteriorated further since the outbreak of the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, 134 Palestinians, including 37 minors, have died due to Israeli fire or attacks by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Over 1,600 Palestinians have been injured in the West Bank.
Since the beginning of 2023 and before the outbreak of the war with Hamas, 340 Palestinians, including 73 minors, have been killed in the West Bank.
The deceased included militants who died in armed clashes with Israeli troops and settlers.
Simultaneously, new Palestinian armed groups have come up in the area.
Their frequent attacks on Israelis have caused 33 fatalities, mostly settlers, including five minors and five soldiers. EFE
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