Gaza death toll surpasses 25,000 as Israel escalates assault

The Palestinian death toll in Israel’s assault on Gaza has surpassed 25,000, according to the Ministry of Health in the territory.

Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said on Sunday that 178 people had been confirmed killed in the previous 24 hours, with the death toll in more than three months of Israel’s war on Gaza reaching 25,105, Al Jazeera reports.

The Israeli bombardment began after Hamas’s surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7 killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli statistics. Around 250 other people in Israel were taken hostage by Palestinian armed groups.

Reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said there was intense ground fighting near a key hospital in Khan Younis on Sunday.

“Snipers have taken positions in high-rise buildings, shooting people on the street below. People in [Nasser] hospital have no place to go,” said Mahmoud, adding that “It’s street-to-street, house-to-house fighting.”

The previous day, Israeli shelling east of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed four Palestinians and injured 21 others, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.