Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises above 70,000: health authorities

The Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 has risen to 70,100, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday.

Over the past 48 hours, two bodies and 11 injured people were transferred to hospitals in the Palestinian enclave, bringing the total number of injuries to 170,983 since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in October 2023, the authorities added.

Despite a ceasefire implemented in October, periodic Israeli attacks have killed 354 people and injured 906 others in the besieged enclave, according to the statement.

On Saturday, two Palestinian children were killed in an Israeli drone strike east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, as the Israeli army intensified its attacks across the enclave, according to Palestinian medical and security sources.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced Wednesday it had launched the 89th wave of Operation True Promise 4, carrying out strikes against U.S. and Israeli targets in the region.

The IRGC said in a statement that Iran and various resistance fronts, through coordinated operations, used heavy missiles, attack drones, and rockets to strike U.S. military bases and Israeli targets.

The statement said the operation targeted Israeli military facilities and assembly points in Eilat, Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, and other locations, and claimed that, according to local sources, it had caused significant Israeli casualties.

The IRGC also stated that it had hit a location in Bahrain housing 80 U.S. troops, and Iranian ballistic missiles struck a U.S. helicopter formation at a base in Kuwait, destroying one helicopter and damaging others.