Sixteen dead and over 125 wounded as Israelis airstrikes continue

The ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed 16 Palestinians and wounded more than 125. Hospitals in Gaza have announced a state of emergency because of a chronic shortage of medical resources compounded by Israel’s six-year long siege of the territory.

As Israeli air strikes continued, a spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Ashraf Al-Qedrah, announced that the death toll had risen to 16; the number of wounded reached 125, including twenty women and 16 children. Over twenty are in a critical condition.

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In response to the Israeli attacks, Palestinian resistance groups have launched more than 90 traditional and improvised rockets. Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that three Israelis have been killed and another four have been injured.

The resistance groups said that they will continue to fire rockets at the Israeli settlements and cities in retaliation for the killing of military leader Ahmed Al-Jabari and Palestinian civilians.

Israeli officials, meanwhile, said that they are going to extend “Operation Pillar of Cloud” into a ground operation. “The military operation will continue until Palestinians in Gaza say enough,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday.

Many residents of Gaza have received automatic telephone calls from Israel warning them about helping Palestinian fighters. Israel also launched balloons to spread leaflets carrying the same message.