253 martyrs, 1948 wounded: Gaza updates toll from 12-day Israeli war

The Gaza Strip revises up its tally of the casualties that have been left from the Israeli regime’s recent 12-day war on the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory.

The latest count, Gaza’s health ministry announced on Monday, stood at 253 martyrs, including 66 children, 39 women, and 17 elderly people, and 1948 wounded.

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported that relief and rescue teams had retrieved five more bodies from the tunnels that belong to the territory’s resistance movements.

The tunnels are located east of the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, the agency said, noting that the discovered bodies belonged to those who had been martyred at the beginning of the war.

Another Palestinian also died of the injuries he had suffered during the warfare east of Khan Yunis.

The regime started the war earlier this month after Gaza rose up in protest against its escalations targeting the Tel Aviv-blockaded West Bank, including the holy city of al-Quds.

Gaza Strip-based resistance groups, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, then started firing thousands of rockets against the occupied territories, eventually forcing the regime to accept a ceasefire on Friday.

Prior to the ceasefire, the resistance’s counterattacks swept the whole expanse of the territories — resulting in extensive damage — and also killed 12 Israelis.

Also on Monday, Israel’s Manufacturers’ Association released a report, saying Israeli businesses had lost 1.2 billion shekels ($368 million) as a result of Gaza’s reprisal.