Palestinians check the destruction after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, December 29, 2023. /CFP
At least 187 Palestinians were killed and 312 others were wounded in Israeli air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours, said the Gaza-based Health Ministry on Friday.
It raised the total death toll of Palestinians to 21,507 and injuries to 55,915 since the conflict broke out on October 7, the ministry added.
Palestinians queue for food that is cooked in large pots and distributed for free, December 28, 2023, Rafah, Gaza. /CFP
The population of Gaza is in "grave peril," the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned Wednesday, citing acute hunger and desperation throughout the war-torn Palestinian territory.
The shrouded bodies of people killed in Rafah during Israeli bombardment in the southern Gaza Strip are placed outside Al-Najar hospital, December 29, 2023. /AFP
The Gaza Health Ministry's spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra said in a statement on Thursday that the Israeli army deliberately targeted 104 ambulances and 142 health institutions in the Strip, calling on international institutions to intervene to protect health institutions and restart the disabled hospitals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) poses for a photo with Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip on December 25, 2023. /Xinhua
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the northern Gaza Strip on Monday and vowed to continue the fight, the prime minister's office said.
Netanyahu visited the Palestinian enclave, where an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has raged, together with Deputy Chief of Staff Major General Amir Baram, the office said. "We don't stop. The war continues to the end until we finish them, nothing less," Netanyahu told Israeli soldiers.
Mourners attend the funeral of Seyyed Razi Mousavi, who was recently assassinated in an Israeli attack in Syria, Tehran, December 28, 2023. /CFP
The bloodiest ever Gaza conflict has also sharply heightened tensions between Israel and its long-time arch foe Iran, which supports armed groups across the Middle East, according to AFP.
The funeral for senior Iranian commander Seyyed Razi Mousavi, who was recently assassinated in an Israeli attack in Syria, was held in Iran's capital Tehran on Thursday.
The participants held pictures of Mousavi and late Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike near the Baghdad airport in Iraq in January 2020, and chanted anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans.
Smoke billows during Israeli bombardment on the outskirts of the border town of Marwahin in southern Lebanon, December 26, 2023. /CFP
Many Western and Middle Eastern governments have voiced concerns regarding the potential broadening of the conflict, including Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
Three Lebanese civilians were killed on Wednesday at dawn in an Israeli raid on their house in Lebanon's southern town of Bint Jbeil.
The clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces killed 183 on the Lebanese side, including 128 Hezbollah members and 35 civilians, according to Xinhua on Tuesday, citing Lebanese security sources.
(With input from agencies)