Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza, West Bank nears 20,000

People conduct rescue work after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on Dec. 19, 2023. [Xinhua]

The death toll of Palestinians from Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 19,667, and 52,586 others were wounded since Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Palestinian deaths and injuries from Israeli raids in the West Bank climbed to 301 and 3,365, respectively, according to the ministry.

In Gaza, over the past 24 hours, 214 Palestinians were killed, and 300 others injured in Israel's raids, while a large number of victims were still under the rubble, Ashraf Al-Qedra, Health Ministry spokesman, said at a press conference held in the southern Gaza Strip.

Al-Qedra accused the Israeli army of destroying hospitals in northern Gaza Strip and putting them out of service.

He said the moves would displace 800,000 people and deprive thousands of wounded, pregnant women, children, and chronic patients of health services.

Al-Qedra stressed that hospitals in southern Gaza are "powerless in the face of the huge numbers of infections and are trying to differentiate between cases to save their lives with the limited clinical, medical and human capabilities available."

Since Oct. 7, Israel has been launching a large-scale war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel, which claimed the lives of about 1,200 Israelis, according to the Israeli authorities.