Palestinian Death Toll In Gaza Increases To 28,663 People As Israel Plans To Attack Rafah

Israeli military land operations in Gaza. (Source: Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - The death toll of Palestinians as a result of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has reached 28,663, according to the Health Ministry in the region on Thursday.

At least 28,663 Palestinians have now been killed in Israel's relentless attacks on Gaza since October 7, the Ministry of Health confirmed in the war-torn enclave on Thursday.

The ministry's statement also added that around 68,395 other people were also injured in the ongoing attack.

"At least 87 people were killed and 104 others injured in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement, quoted by the Daily Sabah on February 16.

"Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the road and rescue teams cannot reach them," the ministry added.

The Israeli war in Gaza has caused 85 percent of the region's population to flee amid shortages of food, clean water and medicine. Meanwhile, 60 percent of the infrastructure in the region has been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.

Most recently, Israel's plan to carry out military operations in Rafah, southern Gaza, after operations in the northern region, raised fears of further casualties of civilians. Rafah himself is packed with Palestinian refugees who take refuge in the war in Gaza.

The head of UN humanitarian aid on Thursday warned of a possible overflow of Palestinians displaced in Rafah to Egypt if Israel launched a military operation against the border city.

This refers to Israel's plan to expand its military operations to the Rafah, which is in the south of Gaza, after last week launched special operations and airstrikes against the city.

"The possibility of military operations in Rafah, with the possibility of closing crossings, with a possible spill, a kind of Egyptian nightmare, is something that lies in our eyes," Martin Griffiths said.

Griffiths further said that the notion that Gazans could flee to a safe place was an "illution".

"We all have to hope that Israeli friends and those who care about Israel's security give them good advice right now," Griffiths said.

More than a million Palestinians are crammed into the Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, the border with Egypt. Many of them live in tents and temporary shelters after fleeing Israeli bombings elsewhere in Gaza.