Palestinian death toll nears 36,400 as Israel continues to pound Gaza

By Ikram Kouachi

At least 36,379 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip since last October, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said on Saturday.

A ministry statement added that 82,407 other people have also been injured in the onslaught.

“Israeli attacks killed 95 people and injured 350 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 an unrelenting offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 people.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, 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, which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than a million displaced Palestinians had sought refuge.