UN: Gaza Strip death toll nears 2,800 With over 200 Hamas, Islamic Jihad targets struck overnight

The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 2,778, with another 59 killed in the West Bank.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the number of injured in Gaza is 10,850 and 1,176 - in the West Bank, Caliber.Az reports, citing the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

As for the casualties from the Israeli side, 1,300 Israelis were killed during the hostilities, and 4,100 were wounded.

In the last 24 hours, as of 18:00 on October 16, 108 Palestinians have been killed. Hundreds are believed to be under the rubble.

The war between Israel and Hamas has been ongoing since 7 October. It began with the firing of hundreds of rockets into Israeli territory, and the seizure of some settlements and hostages. Israel has managed to regain control of its territories. The IDF is shelling the Gaza Strip and preparing for a ground operation.

At the same time, the Israel Defence Forces said it struck more than 200 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip overnight.

The sites include a headquarters where many Hamas members were killed and a bank used by Hamas.

The IDF adds that Navy vessels have also carried out strikes, including against Hamas command centres and weapons storage sites in Gaza City.

On October 16, a spokesman for the terror group Hamas claimed that its military wing was holding between 200 and 250 hostages throughout Gaza.

In a televised address, Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades said that the brigades hold around 200 while other “resistance factions in other places" hold the remainder.

However, he said the total tally could not be confirmed due to “security and practical difficulties."

Obeida claimed that some of the hostages taken during Hamas' October 7 invasion of Israel were killed by Israeli airstrikes in the intervening days.

Director of Israel's General Security Service (counterintelligence - Shabak) Ronen Bar admitted personal responsibility for the fact that his structure missed the 7 October Hamas attack on the territory of the country.

"As the person who runs the organisation, [I acknowledge]: the responsibility lies with me," he wrote.

Bar stated that the service failed to provide the conditions to pre-empt this attack, despite all the preventive measures.

"Despite several measures we took, unfortunately, on Saturday [7 October] we were not able to create a sufficient level of warning that would have prevented the attack," the head of the service admitted.

Bar said, however, that the country should focus on fighting the enemy now, and that the time for investigations into the causes of what happened will come later.

"There will be time for investigations, [but] right now we are fighting. Our people have shown bravery, courage and fighting spirit," he said.

It has also become known that the US military has selected roughly 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential deployment to support Israel.

The troops are tasked with missions like advising and medical support, the officials said, and they are from across the US armed services. They aren’t intended to serve in a combat role, the officials said. No infantry have been put on prepare-to-deploy order.

The troops are currently stationed both inside the Middle East and outside, including Europe, the officials said. It isn’t clear under what circumstances the US could deploy the troops or to where, but the Pentagon decision signalled it is preparing to support Israeli troops should Israel launch a ground incursion into Gaza.

In addition, the IDF said it killed four terrorists who tried to infiltrate the country from Lebanon.

According to the United Nations, an estimated 1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been displaced in the first seven days of conflict with Israel in what the world body described as “catastrophic”. Khalil Abu Qambaz, who lives on al-Jalaa Street, said the air attacks came without warning.

According to him, people have not even been able to bury their loved ones.

Mansour claims that more than 3,000 Palestinians have lost their lives as a result of Israeli shelling in the Gaza Strip and most of them are civilians, among them more than 1,000 children. Forty-seven families totalling 500 people have been destroyed.

As reported, Israel's permanent representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said that the war with Hamas will end when the militants of the Palestinian movement lay down their arms and release the hostages.

He called Israel’s retaliatory military operation a “rescue mission” and criticized the draft UN Security Council resolution proposed by Russia.

“Israel's mission is to save: our hostages, our future, the people of Gaza from these cruel tyrants. This is a rescue mission. This mission can be completed very quickly. If Hamas lays down its arms, releases the hostages and surrenders, this war could end without a shot being fired. Why don’t you call on Hamas to do this, why wasn’t this part of the resolution?” Erdan said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on a resolution on the situation in the Gaza Strip and Israel. The broadcast was carried out on the UN website.