UPDATE 2 - Palestinian death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza nears 800

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Anadolu staff

The Palestinian death toll has risen to 788 amid Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

A ministry statement said the fatalities included 770 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 18 in the occupied West Bank.

According to the statement, over 4,100 people were injured, including 4,000 in the Israeli bombing in Gaza.

A previous statement by the ministry put the death toll at 765 Palestinians, including at least 143 children and 105 women.

Israel continued its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip for the third day on Tuesday, following a multi-front Hamas attack on Israeli towns near the seaside territory. Hamas said the attack was in response to Israeli violations in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem and increased settler violence.

Israel retaliated with a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and imposed a total blockade on the territory, home to nearly 2.3 million people.

The Israeli army said Tuesday it had launched massive airstrikes targeting more than 100 targets in Gaza. The army said its forces killed four Palestinian gunmen who had attempted to infiltrate Israel near Zikim near Gaza.

The army said Hamas economy minister, Juad Abu Smallah, was killed in an airstrike in Khan Younis city in Gaza.

Hamas, for its part, confirmed Tuesday that two of its officials were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza. The group retaliated by firing volleys of rockets at central cities in Israel, including Ashkelon, Tel Aviv, Beersheba and Rishon LeZion. The Palestinian movement said it also fired rockets aimed at Ben Gurion Airport.

More than 1,800 people have been killed in the escalation since Saturday, including more than 1,000 Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to use all of Israel’s strength to destroy Hamas’ capabilities and “take revenge for this black day.”