Israel has escalated its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas militants.
The stepped-up attacks, and the rapidly rising death toll in Gaza, came as Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the hundreds of hostages it captured during its devastating attacks on towns in southern Israel earlier this month.
Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry is reporting Israeli attacks have killed at least 704 people over the past day, including 305 children and 173 women.
It says more than 57-hundred Palestinians have been killed in the war and that most of the deaths were in the north and central areas of the territory that Israel told people to evacuate.
More than 14-hundred people have been killed in Israel -- mostly civilians who died during the initial Hamas attack on October 7th.
As the death toll in Gaza spirals, facilities to deal with the casualties are shutting down.
The World Health Organization reports 46 out of 72 primary health-care facilities, and 12 out of 35 hospitals have stopped functioning due to damage from airstrikes and a lack of electricity and fuel to power generators.
Palestinian health officials say many of the facilities had to close because of a lack of electricity and fuel to power generators and damage from a rapid increase in Israeli airstrikes.
In a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would make every effort to fight the war quickly, but added that it could be long.
Avec le Président Isaac Herzog et le Premier ministre Benyamin Netanyahou, pour témoigner de la solidarité des Français à l’égard du peuple Israélien. pic.twitter.com/IDv9Nw728r
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 24, 2023
