Gaza death toll surpasses 1,000 as bodies recovered
Strip rose to over 1,000 on Saturday amid a brief truce, as
some 135 bodies were pulled from the rubble of buildings
destroyed by Israeli attacks throughout the besieged coastal
enclave, medics said.
The bodies were found on the 19th day of Israel's assault
on Gaza, during a 12-hour truce in which many Gaza
residents picked through the ruins of their homes.
Meanwhile, Israeli TV said that Israel's security cabinet had
approved a four-hour extension of the truce, prolonging the
ceasefire until midnight.
As the brief period of calm took effect Saturday, survivors
began to venture out of their homes to survey what was
left, while those who had fled cautiously returned to see
what had become of their abandoned houses.
The updated death toll was announced as Israeli officials
considered extending the truce even longer, on the
condition that the army continue targeting tunnels in Gaza,
Israeli media said.
News site Ynet quoted a government source as saying an
Israeli cabinet meeting was scheduled to take place at 9:30
pm to discuss the possibility.
It was initially unclear whether Hamas and other factions in
Gaza would agree to extend the truce.
So far, Palestinian medical teams have used the ceasefire
as an opportunity to recover dead bodies still buried under
destroyed buildings.
Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Palestinian health
ministry, said in a statement at 7:00 p.m. that 132 bodies
had been recovered so far.
Many of the bodies were pulled from Gaza City's Shujaiyya
neighborhood, which has experienced some of the heaviest
Israeli shelling and airstrikes throughout the Gaza offensive.
At least 70 people were killed in the neighborhood in one
night of shelling last Sunday, a bombardment Palestinians
have come to call "the Shujaiyya massacre."
Khuzaa in Khan Younis has been heavily targeted as well,
but Israeli forces have refused to allow ambulances and
search teams to access the village.
An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an that Palestinians in
the Khan Younis area had been told to leave their homes
days ago and told not to return during the ceasefire, and
that therefore rescue teams were "not allowed to search" in
parts of the southern Gaza Strip.
Palestinians stand on Israeli military equipment left behind
during the ground offensive, east of Khan Yunis in the southern
Gaza Strip on July 26, 2014 (AFP Said Khatib)
during the ground offensive, east of Khan Yunis in the southern
Gaza Strip on July 26, 2014 (AFP Said Khatib)
More Israeli soldiers announced dead
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said in a statement that the
number of soldiers killed during Israel's ground invasion of
Gaza had risen to 40.
"Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, 40 IDF
(army) officers and soldiers have been killed," the
statement said.
The militant wing of the Popular Resistance Committees had
announced earlier that their fighters had killed a soldier
earlier in the day.
Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades announced Friday that its
militants had killed "at least" 10 soldiers with explosives in
eastern Beit Hanoun.
Palestinian militant groups have claimed that the Israeli
army has yet to announce the deaths of a handful of its
troops.
Even taking the army's numbers at face value, the amount
of soldiers killed during Israel's current Gaza offensive is the
largest military loss the country has faced since its war with
Lebanon in 2006.
AFP contributed to this report.
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