Israel kills 313 Palestinians in Gaza: health ministry 

At least 313 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks targeting the besieged Gaza Strip, while more than 2,000 were wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday. 

In a statement sent to The New Arab, the ministry said that at least 25 children are among the dead, with more than 150 minors injured, including some in critical condition.

On Saturday night, Gaza's 2.3 million besieged residents endured heavy strikes by Israel that targeted most of the enclave's governorates.

Israel claimed that it attacked more than 500 targets belonging to Hamas, including residential houses of its leaders and military sites. 

However, locals in Gaza said that Israel deliberately attacked the civilian houses to impose a policy of collective punishment. 

“At least five houses fell over the heads of their residents after being attacked by the Israeli army warplanes,” Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson of the health ministry said to The New Arab. 

He called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza, who already have suffered 17 years of blockade.

For the second day in a row, the coastal enclave has been witnessing a military escalation right after Hamas, the Islamist group ruling Gaza, launched its unprecedented military operation against Israel. 

The militant group's operation, dubbed 'Al-Aqsa Flood',  began with the launching thousands of rockets from Gaza at Israeli cities, while dozens of militants infiltrated the Israeli cities adjacent to Gaza and killed a number of the settlers and soldiers. An unknown number of Israelis were also captured and taken back t0 Gaza.