Terrorist Israel presses on in Gaza as martyrs' toll at 33,797
GAZA, Palestine (AFP) - Israel struck war-battered Gaza overnight, Hamas and witnesses said Monday, as world leaders urged de-escalation awaiting Israel's reaction to Iran's unprecedented attack that heightened fears of wider conflict.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that at least 33,797 people have been martyred in the territory during more than six months of war. The toll includes at least 68 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 76,465 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.
World powers have urged restraint after Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel late Saturday, though the Israeli military has said nearly all were intercepted.
Tehran's first direct assault on Israel, in retaliation for a deadly April 1 strike on its Damascus consulate, followed months of violence across the region involving Iranian proxies and allies who say they act in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza war grinds on
The Israeli military said it would not be distracted from its war against Tehran-backed Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the Palestinian armed group's October 7 attack.
"Even while under attack from Iran, we have not lost sight... of our critical mission in Gaza to rescue our hostages from the hands of Iran's proxy Hamas," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said late Sunday.
As mediators eye a deal to halt the fighting, fears persisted over Israeli plans to send ground troops into Rafah, a far-southern city where the majority of Gaza's 2.4 million people have taken refuge.
"Hamas is still holding our hostages in Gaza," Hagari said of the roughly 130 people, including 34 presumed dead, who Israel says remain in the hands of Palestinian militants since the Hamas attack. "We also have hostages in Rafah, and we will do everything we can to bring them back home," the military spokesman told a briefing.
The army said it was calling up "two reserve brigades for operational activities", about a week after withdrawing most ground troops from Gaza. The Hamas government media office said Israeli aircraft and tanks launched "dozens" of strikes overnight on central Gaza, reporting several casualties.
Witnesses told AFP that strikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp, with clashes also reported in other areas of central and northern Gaza. Hamas's attack that sparked the fighting resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
