UPDATE 3 – Palestinian death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza surges to 830

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, ADDS DETAILS, HEADLINE AND DECK CHANGED

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – The Palestinian death toll has risen in the Gaza Strip to 830 amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes in the territory, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
A ministry statement said that 4,250 other Palestinians were injured in the Israeli bombardment in the strip.
An earlier statement by the ministry put the death toll at 780, including 770 Palestinians and 18 in the occupied West Bank.
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.
Israeli forces shelled Palestinian fishing boats at Gaza Port, leaving a number of boats in flames.
The army also 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.
Hamas said it had shelled Ashkelon with hundreds of rockets in response to the displacement of civilians in Gaza. The Palestinian movement also said it 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.”