GAZA CITY
At least 82 Palestinians were killed and 574 others injured throughout Monday alone in Israeli air and artillery attacks against the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Tuesday.
“Monday’s air and artillery attacks on Gaza left 82 Palestinians dead and 574 others injured, mostly women and children,” Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.
“Many of the bodies arrived at the enclave’s hospitals in pieces after the victims’ homes were directly targeted by the Israeli army,” he added.
At least 583 Palestinians have been killed – mostly civilians – and more than 3550 injured since the beginning of the Israeli onslaught afainst the besieged coastal enclave on July 7, he noted.
At least 154 children, 58 women and 28 elders were among those killed, he added. As many as 1125 children, 629 women and 144 elders were among the wounded.
The Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing said that Monday’s attacks destroyed 90 houses across the enclave while hundreds others were partially damaged.
Since July 7, Israel has pounded the embattled coastal enclave with fierce air and naval bombardments with the stated aim of halting Palestinian rocket fire.
On Thursday night, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations, sending thousands of troops into the embattled Palestinian territory.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities in response to the ongoing Israeli attacks.
Israel's military operation, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populated Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.
By Mustafa Haboosh
www.aa.com.tr/en
