66 Gazans Killed By Israel Friday: Sources

A total of 66 Palestinians were killed and 406 injured by Israeli attacks on different parts of the Gaza Strip on Friday, a Palestinian Health Ministry official said.



"Sixty-six people were killed and 406 others injured in the Gaza Strip by Israel throughout the day," ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.



He said most of the injured victims were children and women.



Al-Qodra added that the new fatalities bring Gaza's death toll to 879 since the beginning of Israel's war on it on July 7. He added that Friday's attacks also raise the number of injured victims in the coastal enclave to 5745.



"The dead victims included 208 children, 101 women and 51 elderly people," al-Qodra said.



"The injured victims also include 1779 children, 1112 women and 230 elderly people," he added.



Palestinian Minister of Housing and Public Works Mufeed al-Hassayna, meanwhile, said as many as 50 apartment buildings were destroyed in different parts of the Gaza Strip on Friday.



He added that as many as 200 more apartment buildings were partially destroyed as a result of Israel's attacks on Gaza during the day.



Israel used around 790 missiles in attacking Gaza on Friday, Palestinian security sources said.



They added that Gaza-based resistance factions used 180 rockets to attack different Israeli cities and towns.



Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with fierce aerial bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire.



Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rocket at Israeli cities in response to relentless Israeli bombardments.



According to official Israeli figures, 35 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed since the hostilities began.



Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.



In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."



By Mustafa Haboosh



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