6,546 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, including 2,704 children, says health ministry

At least 6,546 Palestinians, including 2,704 children, were killed and 17,439 wounded in Israeli strikes since Oct. 7, the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said on Wednesday. Over the same period, the Israeli military has reported one member of the security forces killed while taking part in a raid.

In the past 24 hours, 756 Palestinians, including 344 children, were killed in Israeli strikes, the ministry said.

Gaza's latest and by far deadliest war broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and taking 222 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

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West Bank death

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed across the occupied West Bank since war erupted between Israel and Gaza's rulers Hamas on October 7, the health ministry said Wednesday.

Violence had already spiralled in the West Bank before the Gaza war, with the highest death toll in the Palestinian territory since at least 2005.

Many of the Palestinian deaths came in raids by Israeli troops but there has also been a rise in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, with civilians and fighters killed on both sides.

Since October 7, tensions and bloodshed have surged in the West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, with the Palestinian death toll reaching 102, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.

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