Toll hits 682 in Gaza Strip

Gaza, July 24 (IANS) The toll in the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, which started July 8, has grown to 682, authorities said Wednesday.

Israeli airstrikes and tank shelling as part of the 'Operation Protective Edge' killed 51 people and wounded more than 100 Wednesday, Xinhua quoted Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qedra as saying.

He added that since the beginning of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, around 4,250 people have been injured, adding that more than two-third of the dead and the wounded are civilians, including women and children.

He said the latest incident was reported from northern Gaza town of Jabalia where Israeli missiles struck a house, killing three people, including a baby.

Shortly before the incident in Jabalia, three other men were killed in the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, the spokesperson said.

Paramedics and rescue teams said that many Palestinians are still under the rubble of the destroyed houses in Sheja'eya neighbourhood in eastern Gaza and in the town of Khuza'a, east of Khan Younis.