78 more Palestinians killed in Gaza, death toll climbs to 30,878

March 8, 2024

- 72,402 Palestinians injured in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, says Gaza Health Ministry

By Ikram Kouachi

ANKARA (AA) – At least 78 Palestinians were killed and 104 others injured in the last 24 hours as Israel continued its onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, the territory's Health Ministry said on Friday.

The ministry said in a statement that Israeli forces committed eight massacres against families in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.

“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the statement said, adding: “72% of victims of the Israeli aggression on Gaza are children and women."

Flouting the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where at least 30,878 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 72,402 injured since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.