By Hosni Nedim
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – More than 300 people have been killed in Israel’s ongoing offensive in the northern Gaza Strip since last week, local authorities said on Sunday.
“We have documented 300 deaths in nine consecutive days of genocide amid systematic killings and a complete siege against civilians,” Ismail al-Thawabteh, who heads Gaza’s government media office, told a press conference.
He condemned the Israeli army’s efforts to destroy Gaza's health system and turn northern Gaza into an inhabitable area.
“This is deliberately and intentionally being done under full cover from the US administration, which supports and works to engineer genocide and fully cover up the massacres of the occupation,” he added.
The Israeli army launched a military operation in northern Gaza on Oct. 6 amid a tight siege on the area, claiming that the offensive aims to prevent Hamas from regaining strength in the area.
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
More than 42,200 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 98,400 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara