The health ministry in Gaza said Saturday that at least 34,971 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during the war between Israel and Hamas.
The tally includes at least 28 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 78,641 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war broke out when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
On Monday, Israel called on Palestinians to leave eastern Rafah ahead of a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city, amid increasing global alarm about the consequences of such a move.
A later evacuation order on Saturday, which some residents told AFP they had received via text and audio messages to their phones, came days after Israeli tanks and troops entered Rafah, the Palestinian territory’s southernmost city, and seized a key crossing on the Egyptian border.
