MOSCOW, August 18 (RIA Novosti) - As the deadly conflict continues on the Gaza Strip, its death toll has surpassed 2,000 people, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said Monday.
So far, 2,016 people have died as a result of fighting in Gaza, including 542 children, 250 women and 95 elderly men, according to a ministry statement. Additionally 10,196 people have been wounded so far, the Daily Star reported.
More than three-quarters of those killed in Operation Protective Edge are civilians, according to Hamas, but Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claim some 50 percent were combatants. At this time, exact numbers cannot be verified as Hamas does not allow journalists to operate freely in Gaza, Israel National News reported.
The IDF confirmed Monday that five of its 64 soldiers killed during the operation died in "friendly-fire" incidents, but specific details regarding the circumstances of their deaths have not yet been revealed, according to Israel National News.
According to the Daily Star, the number of deaths increased from the previously reported 1,980 after those injured during attacks died in hospital across Gaza, Cairo and Jerusalem.
The five-day ceasefire between Israel and Islamist terrorist groups in Gaza will come to an end at midnight tonight.
The IDF began attacks on a network of Hamas tunnels along the Gaza-Israel border on July 17.
