The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 704 on Monday evening, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said, as Israel pounded Hamas targets for the third consecutive day.
Al Jazeera reports that the ministry said at least 704 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since October 7 while some 3,726 people have been injured.
An estimated 800 people in Israel have also been killed as well as four Hezbollah fighters in Israeli shelling of southern Lebanon.
On Monday evening, the Israeli rescue service, ZAKA, said more than 100 bodies had been found in Be’eri, a small kibbutz in southern Israel after it was attacked by armed Palestinians on Saturday.
The news comes after Israeli army units cleared the area while on patrol.
In another development, the Lebanese Resistance Movement backed by Iran – Hezbollah announced in a statement that it will respond to the killing of three of its members at the hands of the Israeli occupation army on Monday afternoon, Palestine Chronicle reported.
“After the martyrdom of three of our (…) brothers this afternoon as a result of Israeli attacks on Lebanese towns and villages, groups from the Islamic Resistance have carried out an initial response by attacking the Braniat barracks, the command center of the Galilee Brigade, and the Avivim barracks, the command center of the Western Brigade, using guided missiles and mortar shells, causing direct hits,” the statement said.
On Monday afternoon, Arab and Lebanese media also reported that members of the powerful Hezbollah resistance group had been killed in an Israeli bombing.
The escalation followed clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli occupation forces in the occupied Lebanese Sheeba Farms region.
In a separate development, also in Lebanon, six Israeli soldiers were wounded including one in a serious condition following an attack by Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.
This followed a decision by the Israeli military to fortify its forces in northern Israel and in other occupied Arab regions.
Meanwhile, Hamas says it is open to discussions over a possible truce with Israel, having “achieved its targets”, a senior official has said.
Moussa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera in a phone interview that Hamas was open to “something of that sort” and to “all political dialogues” when asked whether the group is willing to discuss a possible ceasefire.
He also said that Hamas had captured “tens” of dual citizens from Israel, including those with Russian and Chinese citizenship.
