By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - At least 17 Israeli soldiers were injured in clashes with Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, the army said on Monday.
A military statement said the number of troops injured in the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip since Israel expanded its ground offensive on Oct. 27 rose to 704, including 160 seriously.
The Israeli army said that 459 soldiers have been killed and 1,831 others injured since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7.
Israel's air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas have killed at least 19,453 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 52,286 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.
The war has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.
Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 hostages remain in captivity.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Ankara