Ministry: At least 9,488, including 3,900 children, killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

At least 9,488 Palestinians, including 3,900 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza said on Saturday.

Israel’s ground forces encircled Gaza City on Thursday after stepping up a bombing campaign it says aims at wiping out Hamas, after the militant group killed 1,400 people and took more than 240 hostage in an October 7 assault in southern Israel.

Israel last month ordered all civilians to leave the northern part of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, and head to the south of the enclave, which it has also continued to bomb.

Gaza’s living conditions, already dire before the fighting, have deteriorated further.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli military said it would enable Palestinians to travel on a main Gaza Strip highway as part of its three-week-old efforts to encourage civilians to evacuate southward away from areas that are the focus of its war with Hamas.