Death Toll From Gaza Escalation Approaching 50, Palestinian Health Ministry Says

GAZA (Sputnik) - The death toll from the most recent escalation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip has gone up to 49, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

"A 22-year-old Palestinian has died at the hospital from severe wounds he received during the latest escalation in the Gaza Strip," the ministry said in a Friday statement.

Earlier, the ministry reported 41 deaths, including 15 children and four women.

According to the latest update, the total death toll from the most recent escalation in Gaza stands at 49, which includes 19 children and four women. At least 360 people were injured, the Palestinian health ministry specified on Friday.

Earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an operation dubbed Breaking Dawn against Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced last Sunday that the objectives of the Breaking Dawn operation had been achieved.

The truce between Israel and the Palestinian movement of Islamic Jihad came into effect on the night of August 7, after three days of hostilities. Prior to the ceasefire, the IDF confirmed that a senior Islamic Jihad commander in northern Gaza, Tayseer Jabari, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, while another high-ranking commander, Khaled Mansour, was killed in a separate airstrike in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations maintains close contact with both Israel and Palestinians to strengthen the ceasefire, which was struck last weekend, special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Tor Wennesland said on Monday, adding that the recent escalation in the region "took a severe toll on the civilian population."