Death toll rises as Israeli strikes pound Gaza: ministry

The health ministry belonging to the Hamas-led, Gaza-based Palestinian government has said that 18 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip and 110 wounded since the start of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip on Friday. The casualties include a pregnant woman and her 14 month old daughter.

Fighting broke out between armed Palestinian factions and the Israeli army on Friday after four Palestinians were killed and two Israeli soldiers were injured during a weekly Palestinian protest on the border between the besieged Gaza Strip and Israel.

AFP reported a total of 11 Palestinians were killed on Sunday alone, including a Hamas commander. Three Israelis were also killed in Palestinian rocket attacks targeting the city of Ashkelon.

Palestinian armed factions have fired roughly 600 rockets into Israel since the start of clashes on Friday.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with air raids and strikes from the sea, destroying residential buildings, including one containing the office of the Turkish Anadolu News Agency.

At a cabinet meeting today, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed to intensify strikes against the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Among the Palestinians killed on Sunday were Mohammed Abu Armanah and Mahmoud Abu Armanah, two militants from the Islamic Jihad group.

The Twitter account of Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, the health ministry’s spokesman, named the latest victim as Ali Abdul Jawad, a 51-year old resident of Rafah, a city at the southern end of the Gaza Strip.

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