Death toll from Israeli military operation in Gaza exceeds 34,900 — health ministry

Almost 35,000 people have been killed by the Israeli forces since the IDF launched a military operation in the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip, the enclave’s Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry’s statistics, "the death toll from Israeli aggression in the enclave stands at 34,971 from early October last year to today." The ministry said that since then, 78,641 Palestinians had sustained wounds in Gaza, TASS reports.

In the past 24 hours, the ministry said, 28 people were killed and 69 more Arabs were wounded as a result of shelling and bombardment by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, killing residents of border settlements and taking over 240 hostages. In response, Israel launched a military operation in Gaza to eradicate Hamas’ military and political structure and to release all the hostages. In late November 2023, a temporary humanitarian truce was brokered by Egypt and Qatar and lasted a week. According to Israel, 110 hostages were released then. On December 1, the ceasefire was broken and combat operations resumed and are still going on.