Death toll in Gaza Strip, West Bank rises to 508, including 91 children

CAIRO - 9 October 2023: The death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank rose to 508 and 2,800 wounded since Saturday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Monday.

It said 493 were killed in air strikes in the Gaza Strip and 2,751 wounded, including 91 children and 61 women, while the toll in the West Bank governorates reached 15, including two minors, and about 80 wounded.

The Ministry of Health said four were killed, including a minor, in Jerusalem, two in Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, four in the Hebron Governorate, two in the Nablus governorate, two in Jericho and Jordan Valley Governorate, and a child in Qalqilya Governorate.

The Israeli occupation warplanes launched hundreds of successive and violent raids in the last hours on all governorates of the Gaza Strip, targeting residential towers and buildings, civilian and service facilities, and mosques, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries, most of whom were women, children and elderly.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the brutal shelling of UNRWA school shelter that houses hundreds of Palestinian civilians including women, children and elderly people.

In a press statement, the Palestinian Ministry described the attack as a " brutal crime".

It also denounced the recurrent massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip, leaving hundreds of families without their homes that have been totally or partially damaged in the shelling, in addition to claiming the lives of scores of martyrs. The shelling also left hundreds of people injured and many others were displaced from their houses, it added.

The Ministry called on all countries and UN bodies to monitor the crimes and massacres committed by the occupation forces under a cover from the international community which gives a green light to the occupation state to commit crimes under the title of "self defense".