Israel kills at least 493 Palestinians in Gaza, most are civilians: health ministry

The number of Palestinians, most of whom were civilians, killed by the Israeli army's revenge attack on the besieged Gaza Strip has risen to 493, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. 

In a press statement sent to The New Arab, the ministry said, "Out of the total number of deaths, 91 children and 61 women were killed during Israeli airstrikes attacking the coastal enclave."

"In addition, 2,751 Palestinians, including 244 children and 141 women, were wounded by ongoing Israeli airstrikes," the ministry added. 

Since then, Israel launched a brutal bombing campaign, claiming Israel it had targeted the military sites belonging to Hamas, the Islamist group ruling Gaza, while Gaza's health ministry refuted the Israeli claim and confirmed that 95 per cent of the casualties were civilians. 

Residents in Gaza said that Israel deliberately attacked the civilian houses to impose its policy of public punishment. 

"At least eight families were killed because their houses were destroyed over the heads of their household after being attacked by the Israeli army warplanes," Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson of the health ministry, said to TNA. 

He called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its "aggression" against the Palestinian people in Gaza, who already have been suffering from its "illegal" blockade.

For the third day in a row, the Palestinians in the coastal enclave have been living under ongoing brutal attacks by Israel in revenge for an unprecedented military operation by Palestinian armed groups, led by Hamas.

Dubbed the "Al-Aqsa Flood," the attack by Palestinian armed groups began by launching thousands of rockets from Gaza at Israeli cities, while dozens of armed fighters infiltrated into 1948 territories, and managed to capture key points while killing at least 700 Israelis, as well as capturing at least 100 and bringing them into Gaza for future prisoner exchanges.