Gaza health ministry says war death toll at 34,735

The health ministry in Gaza said Monday that at least 34,735 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during almost seven months of war between Israel and Hamas.

The tally includes at least 52 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 78,108 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.

Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah on Monday in what appeared to be preparation for a long-threatened assault on Hamas holdouts in the southern Gaza Strip city where more than a million war-displaced people have been sheltering.