Gaza death toll exceeds 40,000 with no letup in Israeli assault

At least 40 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, pushing up the death toll since last Oct. 7 to 40,005, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Thursday.

A ministry statement added that some 92,401 others have been injured in the 10-month-old offensive.

"Israeli forces killed 40 people and injured 107 others in three 'massacres' of families in the last 24 hours," the ministry said.

"Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them," it added.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

Over 10 months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.