Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 65,174

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has risen to 65,174, with 166,071 others injured since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7, 2023, Gaza's health authorities said on Friday.

In the past 24 hours, hospitals across the region received 33 bodies and 146 injured people, the authorities added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported Friday that its 162nd Division was expanding its ground operations in Gaza City.

Troops used tank fire, armed drones and airstrikes to target armed personnel and infrastructure, the IDF said.

According to the IDF statement, Israeli troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip directed an airstrike that killed Sim Mahmoud Yusuf Abu Alkhir, deputy head of military intelligence in Hamas' Bureij Battalion. The military alleged that Abu Alkhir had been involved in planning and executing attacks against Israeli forces.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.