More than 1,300 people have been killed in Gaza during 23 days of fighting.
The news came as the death toll after 23 days of fighting continued to rise on Thursday. More than 1,370 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and 56 Israelis, mainly soldiers, have been killed. At least 249 children are among Gaza's dead, while another 2,000 have been injured, the UN reported Thursday. Eight Palestinian journalists and media workers have also been killed, according to the International Federation of Journalists; journalists have reported being threatened by both Israeli and Hamas officials over their coverage.
A boy who fled his home after an Israeli air strike sleeps inside a classroom at a U.N.-run school in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on July 31.
Mohammed Salem / Reuters
Israel has said that their military campaign is intended to stop Hamas militants from firing rockets into Israel and building tunnels into Israel and Egypt to smuggle weapons and people. On Tuesday, Hamas released a video of their militants using a tunnel to enter Israel and attack Israeli soldiers. The Israeli army confirmed that five soldiers were killed in the raid.
Israeli air strikes have also taken a high toll on Gaza's impoverished densely populated civilian population. Both Israel and Egypt have blocked their borders with Gaza, preventing Palestinians from leaving and accessing vital humanitarian care. Israeli air strikes have destroyed at least half of Gaza's water and sanitation infrastructure, leaving two-thirds of the besieged population without access to safe water, according to the U.N. Over 245,000 people have sought refuge in U.N. facilities in Gaza, and another 200,000 Palestinians have been displaced, according to the U.N. Since the start of the conflict, hospitals in Gaza have warned that they are underresourced.
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