The Hamas health ministry reports the death toll in Gaza has passed 34,000, with over 76,000 Palestinians injured, as Israel and Iran exchange missile strikes.
According to The Times of Israel, as of Saturday (April 20), the Hamas-run health ministry says Israel’s military offensive, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has killed at least 34,012 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and injured at least 76,833 others since October 7. It is also reported that the majority of the victims include women and children.
The publication notes however, the exact numbers cannot be independently verified as tens of thousands of people are believed to be buried in the bomb-out ruins of homes, shops, shelters, and other structures. Additionally, Israel claims that over 13,000 Hamas gunmen have been killed in battle and that they have killed about 1,000 terrorists inside their country since October 7. Also, it is reported that 260 IDF soldiers have been killed in the army’s Gaza ground operation.
As mentioned, the grim milestone in Palestine arrives as the hope of a ceasefire dwindles and as global attention now shifts from Israel versus Gaza to Israel versus Iran. As we previously shared on our Instagram last Sunday (April 14), Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles into Israel, with about 99 percent of them being intercepted and shot down by United States and United Kingdom forces.
Late Thursday (April 18), we then updated on Instagram that Israel responded to Tehran’s attack on Sunday and retaliated on Friday morning (local time) by launching several missiles into Iran, targeting a military site in the central province of Isfahan. According to CNN, Iranian officials in Tehran have since claimed that air defenses intercepted three drones during Friday’s attack.
As mentioned, Israel’s retaliatory attack on Iran arrived after an unprecedented Iranian assault on Israel last weekend, which officials in Tehran said was retaliation for a deadly suspected Israeli airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Syria on April 1. The back-to-back attacks marked the first time that the Islamic Republic had launched a direct assault on Israel from its own soil.
CNN reports that in the wake of Iran’s retaliatory attack, countries like the United States have since called for Israel to stand down to prevent further escalation, as Israel is still in an ongoing war against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, which continues to increase tensions between the two nations and their neighbors.
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