Gaza Strip casualties reach 9,061 After 12,000 targets hit by Israel since Oct.7/VIDEO

The number of victims of the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip has increased to 9,061, wounded - up to 32,000.

"The number of victims rose to 9,061, among them 3,760 children and 2,326 women, and the number of wounded reached 32,000," the TV channel quoted an unnamed representative of the Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip as saying, Al Jazeera reports.

An armed conflict between Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups and Israeli military forces broke out on 7 October 2023, with a Hamas attack on southern Israel, to which Israeli military forces retaliated with extensive strikes against Palestine's Gaza Strip and a subsequent invasion of Gaza.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that a "public health catastrophe" is imminent in Gaza, where a third of hospitals are not functioning and the rest are barely working due to shortages of fuel and medical supplies.

An estimated 1.4 million people have moved southwards since the Israeli military ordered residents of northern Gaza to leave their homes for their own safety on 13 October.

The southern city of Khan Younis, normally home to 400,000 people, has seen its population increase to about 1.2 million since the latest conflict began.

Many families are sharing homes, or sleeping in tents. About 600,000 are being hosted by Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

The UN has warned Gaza has only 5% of its normal daily water output, with infant deaths from dehydration "a growing threat".

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces says that 12,000 targets have been attacked in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023.

Of these, 1,200 targets have been identified, confirmed and eliminated since the beginning of the ground phase of the operation (since the end of October).