Palestinian death toll in Gaza exceeds 22,000: ministry

GAZA -- The death toll of Palestinians has exceeded 22,000 after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct 7, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said in a press statement that the Israeli army killed 207 Palestinians and wounded 338 others in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours.

The new causalities bring the number of Palestinian deaths to 22,185 and injuries to 57,035 since Oct 7, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that the Israeli attacks from the air, land and sea continued in most parts of the Gaza Strip during the past hours, especially on the refugee camps in central Gaza, while violent fighting between Israeli army and armed Palestinian militants were ongoing.

Israel launched air raids on the central and eastern part of Khan Younis, the largest city in the south of the coastal enclave, and used artillery to bomb the northern neighborhoods of the city, leading to a number of deaths, according to the sources.

Since Oct 7, Israel has been launching a large-scale military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel, which claimed the lives of around 1,200 Israelis, according to Israeli authorities.