Gaza death toll surpasses 21,300 amid Israeli attacks

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks surged to 21,320 since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the enclave said Thursday.

In a statement, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said that 55,603 other people had been injured in the Israeli onslaught.

“At least 210 people were killed and 360 others injured in the last 24 hours,” he added.

The spokesman said that 312 medics were killed and 104 ambulances destroyed in Israeli attacks, while 23 hospitals and 142 health care centers were forced out of service.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, leaving it in ruins, with half of the coastal territory's housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely populated enclave amid acute shortages of food and clean water.

Around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara