The Palestinian death toll from an Israeli ground assault in the Gaza Strip has risen to 70, including 18 children, since Thursday, a Health Ministry spokesman said Saturday.
"At least 70 people have been killed and nearly 300 injured since the start of the Israeli ground onslaught on Thursday," Ashraf al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.
He said that the fatalities included 18 children and five women.
Al-Qodra said that the latest deaths bring to 309 the number of Palestinians killed since Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave began on July 3.
At least 2268 people have also been injured.
Israeli army forces detained 18 Palestinians during raids across the occupied West Bank on Saturday, a Palestinian NGO said.
In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society said that four Palestinians were detained in the West Bank and 14 others in East Jerusalem.
A Palestinian rights activist linked the fresh detentions to Israel's policy of "administrative detention", which allows the self-proclaimed Jewish state to hold Palestinian prisoners indefinitely without trial or charge.
Israel has detained more than 1100 Palestinians since the mid-June abduction and subsequent killing of three Jewish teens in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has accused the Gaza-based Hamas group of abducting the trio, a claim vehemently denied by the Palestinian faction.
On July 3, Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip with the ostensible aim of halting rocket attack from the Palestinian territory.
At least 309 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2268 injured in the ongoing Israeli attacks. Two Israelis have also been killed in the hostilities.
By Qais Abu Samra/Ola Attalah
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