At least 198 people were killed in Gaza on Saturday, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said, as Israel pounded Palestine following a barrage of rockets into Israel fired by Hamas militants.
The ministry said up until 4:20 pm (1320 GMT) there were “198 martyrs and 1,610 wounded with different injuries” in the conflict.
The death toll in Israel from a surprise attack by the Palestinian militant Hamas group on Saturday has risen to 70, the Magen David Adom emergency medical service said.
“As of now, 5:35 pm(1435 GMT), we can update the toll to 70 killed and hundreds wounded seriously, moderately and lightly,” it said in a statement.
It started following a barrage of more than 2,000 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its most significant attack on Israel in years, infiltrating regions in the south of the country, according to local media and medical professionals.
Mohammed Deif, a senior Hamas military commander, said earlier that the rocket fire marked the start of “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”, and he called on Palestinians everywhere to fight the Israeli occupation. -APP/AFP