142 Palestinians martyred in Israeli air strikes in Gaza, toll soars to 24,762

GAZA, Palestine (AFP) - Gunfire and air strikes on Friday shook Gaza's city of Khan Yunis, witnesses said, where Israel is pressing its southward push against Hamas militants.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the war between militants and Israel has martyred 24,762 people in the Palestinian territory. The toll includes 142 fatalities over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, while 62,108 people have been wounded since war erupted on October 7. At the city's Al-Nasser hospital, a child with a bloodied face cried on a gurney. Ambulances arrived with the injured and the dead while in the darkened city beyond, automatic weapons fire sounded. An orange fireball flashed above rooftops.

The United Nations says the war, which began with unprecedented Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, has displaced roughly 85 percent of Gaza's people. Many are crowded into shelters where they struggle to get food, water, fuel and medical care. UN agencies say improved aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom.

With Israel's military offensive moving farther south in the territory, which is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) long, some residents in northern Gaza have begun returning home to what remains of their neighbourhoods.

'Inhumane'

In Gaza City's Rimal district, rubble has been ploughed to the sides of some dirt roads but others are still clogged with pieces of collapsed buildings. One modern mid-rise building was still standing, its windows shattered. Another tower was a burned-out shell.

"Look at all this destruction. There is not a house, shop or car. Everything is destroyed and the people are dying of hunger," said Ibrahim Saada, a bandage on his left thumb. He said he lost his whole family. Several kilometres south, Nuseirat showed similar destruction but also signs of life. Vendors set up streetside stalls selling vegetables that entered through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. "Thank God there's a reverse displacement. Residents are returning to their homes," said Raid al-Tawil.

But they are coming back to a struggle for survival. The World Health Organization warned of the spread of Hepatitis A, linked to contaminated food and water. "The inhumane living conditions -- almost no drinking water, clean toilets or ability to keep the surroundings clean -- will allow hepatitis A to spread further," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday on X.