The Gaza Health Ministry said nine more bodies had been pulled from the rubble.
Author: Al Jazeera staff
At least 16 Palestinians have been killed or pulled from rubble in Gaza in the past 48 hours, according to health authorities.
The Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday that hospitals in the blockaded territory had received the bodies of 16 Palestinians, seven of whom died in recent attacks by Israeli forces and nine people who were rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings.
The ministry said 16 people were injured during the same period, adding that additional victims remained trapped under the rubble as rescuers and civil defense units were unable to reach them.
The ministry did not elaborate on the exact circumstances of the deaths and injuries.
The latest killings came despite a U.S.-brokered „ceasefire” agreed between Israel and Hamas in October. Although large-scale fighting has largely ceased, Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the Strip have continued.
According to the ministry, 1,066 people have been killed and 3,445 injured as a result of Israeli army violations since the ceasefire came into effect.
With the latest casualties, the total death toll in Israel's genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023 has risen to 73,090, with 173,550 wounded, the ministry added.
During the nominal ceasefire, the Israeli military continued to expand the area under its control inside Gaza while issuing forced eviction orders.
In late May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had ordered the army to extend its control over more than 70 percent of the Gaza Strip.
Under the ceasefire agreement, the parties were supposed to enter a second phase after Hamas released the remaining prisoners covered by the first phase in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
This phase was supposed to include the disarmament of Hamas and the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza.
However, the negotiations have been at a standstill for months, with the main obstacle remaining the disarmament of Hamas and the extent of the Israeli troop withdrawal.
