The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 40,939, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.
Over the past 48 hours, the Israeli army killed 61 Palestinians and wounded 162 others in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total Palestinian death toll to 40,939 and the injuries to 94,616, since the latest round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in early October 2023, it said.
On Saturday, the Israeli military continued to launch attacks on multiple locations in the strip, resulting in the death of dozens of people. Palestinian armed groups claimed to have engaged in combats with the Israeli military in multiple places, targeting Israeli tanks and vehicles.
The Gaza-based health department said that a school in the Jabalia refugee camp in the north and a school in the outskirts of Gaza City were targeted by Israeli attacks, resulting in multiple casualties.
The Israeli military said they targeted Hamas command posts and control centers located within the schools.
Palestinian media reports also said that Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians on Saturday, one in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza and the other in the southern city of Rafah. The Israeli military also carried out airstrikes in the vicinity of the Nuseirat refugee camp on the same day, resulting in at least eight deaths, including three children.
Armed forces affiliated with Hamas and Jihad engaged in clashes with the Israeli military in multiple locations in Gaza City, including in the central and southern parts of the strip. Palestinian fighters said they used anti-tank rockets and mortar shells to strike Israeli tanks and other military vehicles.
Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023.
Meanwhile, the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip continues, with Israel and Hamas implementing temporary ceasefires in some areas to facilitate the vaccination efforts. UN officials said that over half of the children in Gaza who require vaccination had completed the first round of vaccinations. The vaccination campaign will expand to the northern part of the Gaza Strip from Sunday.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 40,939: health authoriies
