Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip since Hamas’s attack on southern Israel one week ago have killed at least 2,215 people, including 724 children, the Palestinian territory’s Hamas-controlled health ministry said Saturday.
Some 458 women were among those killed, the ministry said.
It added that 8,714 people have also been wounded, after an earlier statement said at least 324 people were killed in the past 24 hours alone.
Besides, a senior military commander of Hamas who headed the Islamist group’s aerial operations in Gaza City has been killed in Israeli air strikes, the military said Saturday.
Murad Abu Murad was killed over the past day when fighter jets struck an operational centre of Hamas from where the group carried out its “aerial activity”, the military said.
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There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas.
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip on Saturday from the path of an expected Israeli ground assault, while Israel pounded the area with more air strikes and said it would keep two roads open to let people escape.
Israel had given the entire population of the northern half of the Gaza Strip, which includes the enclave’s biggest settlement Gaza City, until Saturday morning to move south. It announced overnight that it would guarantee the safety of Palestinians fleeing the area on two main roads until 4pm.
“Around the Gaza Strip, Israeli reserve soldiers in formation (are) getting ready for the next stage of operations,” Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told a video briefing early on Saturday.
