Gaza death toll rises to 34,789 as Israeli onslaught continues, more detained
Gaza City, Palestine - At least 34,789 Palestinians have so far been killed in Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip since last October, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
“The Israeli occupation (forces) committed six massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 54 martyrs and 96 injured during the past 24 hours,” a ministry statement said as Israel’s deadly onslaught against Gaza enters its 214th day.
The statement said that 78,204 other people have also been injured in the ongoing onslaught. “Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October 7 which killed some 1,200 people.
Tel Aviv has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.
More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85 per cent of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is ‘plausible’ that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians there.
22 more detained in West Bank
The Israeli army on Tuesday detained 22 more Palestinians in military raids across the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.
The arrests took place in the cities of Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Tubas, and Jericho, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
The arrests included an injured 8-year-old boy, a girl, and former detainees, the statement also said.
The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since last October to 8,610, according to Palestinian figures.