GAZA, July 26 (RIA Novosti) – The number of Palestinians, who died throughout the ongoing Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, has topped 1,000, Palestinian Emergency Services spokesman Ashraf Qudra told RIA Novosti on Saturday.
“There are no official reports yet on the number of victims but I can say for sure that since July 7 over 1,000 people have died and about 6,000 have been injured,” Qudra said.
According to previous reports by medical sources earlier in the day, the death toll passed 900.
The announcement comes amid a 12-hour humanitarian pause agreed between Israel and the Hamas movement in Gaza.
The ceasefire came into effect at 8:00 (05:00 GMT) a.m. and is expected to last till 8:00 p.m. (17:00 GMT). The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced early on Saturday that they would respond to any attempt by the militants to disrupt the agreement.
Israel launched its Edge Protective Operation to put an end to rocket fire from Gaza and undermining the Hamas movement, which controls the region, back on July 8.
On July 17, the Israeli Army switched to a ground assault, largely aimed at demolishing underground tunnels dug by Hamas rebels to get a secret access to Israel.
