19 Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza, Lebanon clashes, military says

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army said Monday that 19 soldiers had been injured in the Gaza Strip and near the border with Lebanon in the last 24 hours.

A military statement said 14 soldiers were wounded in fighting in Gaza and another five near the Israeli-Lebanese border.

According to Israeli military figures, at least 620 soldiers have been killed and 3,343 others injured since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which killed 1,200 people.

More than 35,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and over 78,700 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul