The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced, on Friday evening, that the death toll since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Strip had risen to 17,487 martyrs and 46,480 injured.
Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said in a statement published on the Telegram platform: “During the past hours alone, 313 martyrs and 558 injured people arrived at hospitals, and a large number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads.”
He added that thus the toll rises “since the start of the Israeli aggression to 17,487 martyrs and 46,480 injured,” noting that 70 percent of the victims are women and children.
Al-Qudra warned, “The health situation in the southern Gaza Strip is extremely catastrophic, and hospitals have lost their capacity in departments and intensive care, and the bed occupancy there has reached 262 percent.”
He stressed that "the Israeli occupation is still detaining 36 health personnel from the Gaza Strip, led by the Director General of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salamiya, in harsh and inhumane conditions."