Death toll in Gaza rises as Israeli attacks continue in north, south

GAZA/TEL AVIV – The death toll in Gaza rose further on Sunday as the Israel Defense Forces continued to attack targets across the Gaza Strip, with people in the sealed-off coastal area having long run out of places to hide.

The IDF said fighter jets flew renewed attacks on “terrorists” near Gaza City in the north, with ground troops helping to eliminate them.

Troops discovered and destroyed explosive devices in a kindergarten, according to the report.

Suspected Palestinian fighters were also killed in the south of Gaza and further tunnel shafts were uncovered, according to the IDF.

In the city of Khan Younis, the Israeli army also reportedly stormed the headquarters of Hamas, the Palestinian extremist organization that took control of Gaza by force in 2007 and is listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union and the United States.

Hamas’ intelligence headquarters was also located there, an Israeli official said.

IDF forces are currently intensifying their campaign to eliminate Hamas from Gaza. After initially focusing on the north including Gaza City, the aerial and ground operation is now zooming in on the center and south of the coastal area.

In the past, the IDF had told Gazans to flee to the south to escape the fighting, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering there.

In the north, Israel’s army says it is in the process of taking full control of the area. According to the Israeli army spokesman, the operation is currently focused on the last remaining Hamas stronghold in Gaza City, the Tuffah district.

The latest Gaza war was triggered by Hamas and other groups’ brutal terrorist attacks on Israel when they rampaged through Israeli border towns on October 7, killing over 1,200 people.

Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip has now killed more than 21,800 people, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza. The figures cannot be confirmed, but the U.N. and other observers point out that the authority’s figures have been credible in the past.

More than 56,450 people have been injured, it said in a statement. Some 150 people were killed within 24 hours, the statement added, making no distinction between civilians and fighters.

Some 70% of those killed are said to be women and minors, though the figures could not be independently verified.

Of those injured, more than 5,300 seriously injured and sick people are urgently awaiting evacuation.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is organizing transport abroad for the affected people together with the World Health Organization, OCHA said after reporting the figure, citing the Gaza health authorities.

In the north of the Gaza Strip, it has been possible to restore limited services in some health facilities including the al-Ahli Arab and al-Awda hospitals and some medical practices, OCHA said.

Last Wednesday, the WHO said only 13 of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip were still able to operate, albeit with restrictions. Many lack anesthetics, painkillers, antibiotics, food, water and specialists.

The supply of relief goods remains difficult, with only a few trucks managing to enter amid the bombardment and sealing off of the Strip.

Meanwhile an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West Bank while Hamas rules Gaza, has criticized Israeli plans for longer-term checks on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal, “of Israel regaining control of the Philadelphi Corridor and the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, as well as the creation of buffer zones and new security arrangements are clear evidence of a decision to reestablish complete occupation,” Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said on X.

This undermines “agreements with Egypt and terminates all pacts with the PLO,” he added.

He was commenting on Netanyahu’s statements, made on Saturday, that after the Gaza war, Israel should also control the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egyptian border, which is 14 kilometers (about 9 miles) long.

There were also renewed exchanges of fire on Israel’s border with Lebanon on Sunday.

The Israeli army said jets attacked “terror infrastructure and military facilities” belonging to Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.

In Ramyah, a town near the border, Hezbollah was operating by hiding behind the civilian population, the IDF said.

On the Israeli side of the border, there was an air raid on the town of Zarit and Hezbollah claimed an attack on another Israeli target.

The IDF said anti-tank missiles had already been fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory on Saturday and Israel’s military then attacked Hezbollah observation posts.

Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel was dealing “hard blows” to Hezbollah, eliminating terrorists and destroying enemy capabilities.

He added that Israel’s government approved operational plans for the continuation of the fighting, saying if Hezbollah expands the war, it would take blows it never dreamed of, and so would Iran.

There have been repeated confrontations between Israel and Hezbollah in the border region since October 7 and more than 100 Hezbollah fighters and at least nine Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Civilians on both sides have also been killed in the most serious escalation since the second Lebanon war in 2006, fueling fears of a larger war between Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas.