Death toll in Gaza Strip tops 20,000

The number of dead in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli strikes exceeded 20,000, wounded more than 53,000, according to the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian enclave

"The number of victims of Israeli aggression since October 7 has increased to 20,057, 53,320 wounded," the ministry said, TASS reports.

According to the Health Ministry, 390 Palestinians have been killed and 734 wounded in the past two days. Hundreds of the wounded in the northern sector are dying due to the shutdown of medical facilities, the ministry said.

Sources report that two Hamas security commanders have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

Mahdi al-Aqad, a Hamas police commander in Khan Younis, was eliminated by an airstrike and four or five other members of his family were killed, according to NEWSru.co.il.

In the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, Hamid al-Khalidi, a Hamas commander in northern Gaza, was killed by sniper fire.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched a kamikaze drone towards the Karish gas production platform located in Israel's exclusive economic waters 90 kilometres off the coast near the border with Lebanon's economic waters.

According to NEWSru.co.il, the threat was neutralized by the missile defence system, and the IDF retaliated by striking Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon.

It should be noted that this is not the first such attempt. In 2022, the IDF intercepted three kamikaze drones fired by Hezbollah toward a platform.