Gaza death toll surpasses 35,000 amid Israeli onslaught

By Ikram Kouachi

ANKARA (AA) – The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip has surged since last October to 35,034 people, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said on Sunday.

At least 78,755 other people have been injured in the onslaught, the ministry added in a statement.

“Israeli attacks killed 63 people and injured 114 others in the last 24 hours,” the statement said.

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

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 people.

Tel Aviv has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

More than seven months into the conflict, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

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

South Africa on Friday asked the ICJ to order Israel to withdraw from the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million displaced people have been sheltered, as part of additional emergency measures over the war.