GAZA CITY
The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since July 7 has jumped to 2,016, a Palestinian Health Ministry official said Sunday.
"Rescue teams have unearthed the body of a man from under the rubble in the eastern Gaza City residential neighborhood of Shujaya," Ashraf al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.
"The Health Ministry has also registered the names of slain victims who had not been registered before," he added.
Many families buried their dead relatives during the Israeli offensive, which began on July 7, without registering them or obtaining death certificates, given the difficulties entailed in reaching hospitals at the time, al-Qodra explained.
He put the total death toll now at 2,016 Palestinians, including 541 children, 250 women and 95 elderly Palestinians.
The health spokesman added that 10,193 other Palestinians - including 3,084 children, 1,970 women and 368 elderly people – were also injured in the Israeli attacks.
Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams arrived earlier Sunday in Cairo to resume indirect talks as the Egyptian-brokered five-day truce entered its fourth day.
The Palestinians are demanding, among other things, an end to the Israeli aggression, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and a total lifting of the blockade imposed by Israel since 2007.
By Mustafa Haboosh
www.aa.com.tr/en
