Israel kills 54 more Gazans as death toll surpasses 38,800

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - At least 54 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, pushing up the overall death toll to 38,848 since last Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the battered territory said on Thursday.

A ministry statement added that some 89,459 other people have been injured in the onslaught.

“Israeli forces killed 54 people and injured 95 others in three ‘massacres’ against families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.

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

Palestinian health authorities estimate that more than 10,000 people are still missing under the rubble of destroyed homes across the Gaza Strip.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

Over nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.