Palestinian death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks rises to 44,875

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 44, 875, with 106,454 others injured, said Gaza-based health authorities in a statement released on Friday.

At least eight Palestinians were killed on Friday, including a photojournalist, in a series of Israeli raids targeting different areas in the Gaza Strip, according to official Palestinian sources.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday that over the past day, IDF troops operating in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza dismantled an underground rocket launch site, which was directed at communities in southern Israel.

China's consumer goods industry got off to a good start in 2026, with main indicators registering steady growth in the first two months, according to the data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The value added of enterprises above the designated size -- whose annual main business income reaches 20 million yuan (about 2.93 million U.S. dollars) or more -- in this sector increased by 4.8 percent year on year in January and February, accounting for 29.2 percent of the total value added, 3.1 percentage points higher than that of last year. Among the 14 major industry categories, 10 achieved positive growth.

In the two months, these enterprises achieved a business revenue of approximately 5.1 trillion yuan, up 4.4 percent year on year, while the total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 8.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.8 percent.

"The first two months were in the traditional peak consumption season, driving the growth of orders and helping to unleash production capacity in the consumer goods industry. Some emerging consumption patterns, such as experience consumption and trendy toy consumption, grew rapidly, and the supply market showed a diversified growth trend," said Dai Xiaoxia, deputy director of the Institute of Consumer Goods Industry Research of China Center for Information Industry Development.

In terms of foreign trade, exporters above the designated size delivered consumer goods worth around 592.54 billion yuan, up 2.2 percent year on year, with the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, the papermaking and paper products industry registering relatively rapid growth.

China will increase the supply of high-quality products in the consumer goods industry, steadily promoting the intelligent, green and integrated development of the sector.