Palestinian Ministry of Health: Over 700 Dead in Gaza within 24 Hours

Palestinian Ministry of Health: Over 700 Dead in Gaza within 24 Hours

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas entered its eighteenth day on Tuesday. More than 6,000 people have lost their lives on both sides.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health stated on Tuesday that 704 individuals in Gaza died in the last 24 hours. This is the highest daily count reported since the beginning of Israeli strikes on Gaza earlier this month.

The ministry's statement, released in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, reported 47 incidents of Israeli military involvement labeled as "massacres" within the past 24 hours. The Hamas-controlled ministry said the dead included 305 children, 173 women, and 78 elderly people.

According to the ministry, the recent deaths have raised the total number of casualties in Gaza to 5,791, including 2,360 children, 1,421 women, and 295 elderly individuals. The ministry also reported 16,297 injuries of different severity and 1,550 missing persons, with 870 of them being children.

The count increases as Israeli airstrikes seem to intensify; blasts overnight on Sunday were some of the most continuous bombardments in northern Gaza in the last two weeks. The Israel Defense Forces are getting ready for a possible ground operation in the embattled area, with significant troops and tanks already gathered at the border.

Israel is getting ready for a "multilateral activity" on Hamas from the "air, ground and ocean," Israeli Protection Priest Yoav Courageous said Monday.