THE death toll from Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza has surpassed 70,000, the Health Ministry in the enclave says, as Israeli military attacks continue.
The ministry said on Saturday that at least 70,100 people have been killed across the Gaza Strip since Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza began on October 7, 2023. More than 170,900 others have been wounded.
The grim milestone comes as Israel has continued to launch attacks on Gaza despite a United States-brokered ceasefire with Hamas that came into effect last month.
Medics reported earlier on Saturday that two Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli drone attack on the town of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Witnesses told Al Jazeera that drones dropped a bomb on a group of civilians near al-Farabi School on Saturday morning, killing two brothers, Juma and Fadi Tamer Abu Assi.
The two boys were taken to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis with critical injuries, where they were later pronounced dead, medical sources said.
The area targeted by the attack lies beyond the so-called Yellow Line marking the Israeli forces’ redeployment boundary agreed under the ceasefire agreement, which took effect on October 10, sources said.
Also on Saturday, the Israeli military launched ground, naval, and air attacks on several parts of Gaza.
Medical sources reported that three Palestinians were injured as a result of Israeli artillery and air bombardment in the town of al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis.
Israeli aircraft also launched raids in the Tuffah neighbourhood, in the east of Gaza City, on Saturday morning.
Additionally, attacks hit the eastern areas of Rafah city in southern Gaza.
The attacks come a day after Nasser Medical Complex announced the killing of a Palestinian by Israeli drone fire beyond the Yellow Line in the town of Bani Suheila.
Ismail al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Government Media Office, said on Friday that 535 Israeli violations had been documented since the ceasefire took hold.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating at an unprecedented rate, and the Israeli aggression has destroyed infrastructure and essential services,” al-Thawabta said in a statement.