UPDATE - Gaza’s death toll from Israeli attacks soars to 9,488

UPDATES WITH JOURNALISTS DEATH TOLL, CONDEMNATION STATEMENTS; OTHER SMALL EDITS

By Mohamed Majed

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip has climbed to 9,488, the Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave said on Saturday.

“The victims include 3,900 children and 2,509 women, while 24,000 other people were injured,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told a news conference in Gaza City.

“Seventy percent of the victims of aggression are children, women, and elderly people,” the spokesman added.

He also said that “the ministry has gotten reports of about 2,200 people missing under the rubble, including 1,250 children, since the start of the aggression on Gaza.”

“A total of 150 health personnel were killed and 27 ambulances were destroyed or put out of service as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip,” Qudra added.

He also accused Israel of "deliberately targeting more than 105 health institutions, which left 16 hospitals and 32 primary care centers out of service due to Israeli targeting and running out of fuel."

“Gaza's hospitals have become completely overcrowded with wounded people and critical cases, and we lose many wounded every day because there are no therapeutic interventions available for them in Gaza's hospitals,” he added.

"The occupation deliberately prevents the evacuation of the wounded from hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City to southern Gaza, all the way to the Rafah land crossing," Qudra also said.

Gaza’s Government Media Office also extended its condolences to the families of journalists killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the office said: “46 journalists were killed when being directly targeted by Israeli occupation missiles.”

The office added: “The crimes of assassination committed by the occupation against Palestinian civilians in general and journalists and media professionals in particular reflect its bloodiness and organized terrorism.”

The office also stressed that “the occupation must be brought to international courts for its aggression against journalists, which amounts to war crimes.”

This week the Israeli army expanded its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since a surprise offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi​​​​​​​