GAZA, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - Number of casualties of 13-day Israeli operation in Gaza has reached 400, as about 60 people were killed on Sunday, local health ministry spokesperson told RIA Novosti Sunday.
“Today there have been 60 dead, more than a half from Shuja’iya,” the spokesperson said.
More than 3,000 people have been injured, according to the official.
Spokesperson stressed that the number can significantly increase once all the dead and injured are taken out of Shuja’iya, eastern suburb of Gaza, where some serious shelling occurred on Saturday night.
According to Al Jazeera TV channel, which quoted various UN agencies, 67 percent of the people killed during the operation are civilians.
On the Israeli side seven people died during the operation, five military was killed in Gaza Strip or on its borders and two civilians became victims of the rocket attacks and mortar fire.
On July 8, Israel started its Operation Protective Edge targeting the Hamas movement, which controls the region, and its allied groups of Palestinian rebels. About ten days later, the Israeli army switched to a ground offensive aimed at destroying underground tunnels dug by rebels to secretly enter the Israeli territory.
The ground offensive led to higher casualties on both sides. Palestinian militants launch more than 100 rockets daily aimed at the largest cities of the south and center of Israel. About five million people out of total population of eight million live in the zone of attacks.
