Gaza death toll nears 33,000 amid Israeli offensive

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - A total of 32,975 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since last October, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said on Wednesday.

The Gaza-based Health Ministry made the statement as the Israeli deadly onslaught on Gaza entered its 180th day.

The ongoing onslaughts have also injured 75,577 Palestinians, it added.

It noted that in the past 24 hours, "Israel committed five massacres against families across the Gaza Strip that left 59 martyrs and 83 others injured."

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

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the ICJ, which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.