Gaza death toll surpasses 22000 and Israel vows to destroy Hamas

The Gaza death toll surpassed 22000 following an army warning from Israel that its battle against Hamas will continue until 2024, shelling and missile attacks shook the entire Gaza Strip overnight and into Tuesday.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, nearly three months of conflict have surpassed the Gaza Death toll to 22000 and devastated much of the besieged territory. Despite relentless global demands for a ceasefire, the army was preparing for prolonged fighting expected to last throughout this year, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

Witnesses reported shelling near the Jabalia refugee camp in the north and missiles fired into the city of Rafah in the south on Monday night and into Tuesday morning. Along with the main southern city of Khan Yunis, there were reports of fighting around the center areas of Maghazi and Bureij.

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The attacks on Israel by Hamas on October 7 set off the conflict, killing over 1,140 people, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on government data. That day, the terrorists also kidnapped over 250 people; over half of them are still in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel has sworn to destroy Hamas and launched an offensive that, according to the health ministry of the region, has killed at least 21,978 people, largely women, and children, and left large portions of Gaza reduced to a destroyed wasteland. In the fight against Hamas, which Israel, the US, and the EU have all recognized as a terrorist group, the Israeli army claims that 173 troops have died inside Gaza.

Yoav Gallant, the Israeli minister of defense, announced that people who have been evacuated from several towns and villages close to the Gaza border since the October 7 strikes will soon be allowed to return home.

Gazans have been suffering from severe shortages of food, water, fuel, and medicine since Israel imposed a siege at the beginning of the conflict; only aid trucks, of which roughly 120 arrived on Sunday, have helped the situation. According to the UN, since the conflict began, 85% of the people living in the region have been forced to flee their homes.