Gaza death toll nears 38,300 as Israel kills 52 more Palestinians

Israeli forces killed 52 more Palestinians in attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll to 38,295 since last Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said on Wednesday.

A ministry statement added that at least 88,241 other people have been injured in the onslaught.

“Israeli forces killed 52 people and injured 208 others in four ‘massacres’ against families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said, adding that 27 of the victims were killed in an airstrike on Al-Awda School in the town of Abasan, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.