Gaza death toll nearing 43,400 amid unabated Israeli attacks

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – At least 17 more Palestinians were killed in relentless Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 43,391, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Tuesday.

A ministry statement added that some 102,347 others were injured in the ongoing assault.

“The Israeli occupation has committed three massacres of families in the last 24 hours, resulting in 17 deaths and 86 injuries,” the ministry said.

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.