Number of Palestinians killed by Israel's offensive on Gaza passes 65,000

LAST UPDATE | 8 hrs ago

THE NUMBER OF people killed by Israel’s offensive in Gaza has surpassed 65,000, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

Hospital officials said overnight strikes killed at least 16 people, including women and children, as IDF troops and tanks pushed deeper into Gaza City.

It brings the death toll in Gaza to 65,062 since the Hamas-led attack of October 2023, the vast majority of whom have been civilians. The health ministry’s figures are seen as a reliable estimate by the UN and many independent experts.

Residents of Gaza City continued to flee the relentless bombing by Israeli forces today as the occupying army said it would open a “temporary” route for civilians to use to escape the territory’s largest population centre.

In the face of near global condemnation, and yesterday’s UN investigation finding that it is committing genocide in Gaza, Israel has pressed ahead with its full-on assault on the already devastated city. 

The Israeli army has estimated that “more than 350,000″ people have already left, although Hamas and the Gaza civil defence agency said the number was lower. Today, the Israeli army declared it had struck more than 150 “terror targets” across the Gaza Strip.

People fleeing Gaza City yesterday told AFP news agency reporters about leaving the ruins and rubble as the bombs fell.

Only huge piles of rubble remained of a residential block in the north of the city hit by Israel’s bombardment.

“Why kill children sleeping safely like that, turning them into body parts?” asked Abu Abd Zaquout.

We pulled the children out in pieces.

Gaza hospital officials said overnight Israeli strikes across the territory killed at least 13 people, including women and children.

More than half of the dead were killed in strikes on Gaza City, including a child and his mother who were killed in a strike on their apartment in the Shati refugee camp, according to officials from the Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties.

In central Gaza, the Al-Awda Hospital said an Israeli strike hit a house in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, killing three, including a pregnant woman.

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Two parents and their child were also killed when a strike hit their tent in the Mawasi area west of the city of Khan Younis, said officials from the Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were brought.

The Israeli military said it was opening “a temporary transportation route via Salah al-Din Street”, the central route that cuts through the Strip running from north to south. 

Its Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee said the corridor would remain open for just 48 hours from midday on Thursday.

Until now, the army had urged residents to leave Gaza City via the coastal road towards what it calls a “humanitarian zone” further south.

Today, China voiced its opposition to Israel’s expanded assault. 

“China firmly opposes Israel’s escalation of military operations in Gaza and condemns all acts that harm civilians and violate international law,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

“Israel is determined to go up to the end and (is) not open to a serious negotiation for a ceasefire, with dramatic consequences from Israel’s point of view,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said.

France urged Israel to stop its “destructive campaign”, while Germany called the offensive “the completely wrong path”.

With reporting from AFP and Press Association

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