Gaza death toll hits 18,000, Health Ministry says

Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman says about 18,000 Palestinians have been killed and 49,500 wounded since October 7, APA reports.

Ashraf al-Qudra told Al Jazeera in a telephone interview that the death toll included 297 people killed and more than 550 wounded in the past 24 hours.

Heavy fighting raged overnight and into Sunday focussing mainly on Khan Younis, as Israel pressed ahead with its attacks after the US blocked the latest international efforts to halt the fighting and rushed more weapons to its close ally.

Israel has faced rising international outrage and calls for a ceasefire after the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of nearly 85% of Gaza's 2.3 million people within the besieged territory, where UN agencies say there is no safe place to flee._Agencies.