Death toll in Israel-Hamas conflict nears 3,000; 13 hostages killed in 24 hours [details]

The death toll in the raging conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is nearing 3,000, as violence continued for the seventh consecutive day on Friday.

In an update, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus on Friday that at least 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers have been killed since the Hamas launched its brutal attack on October 7, CNN reported.

Conricus added that 3,391 people have been injured in the terrorist attacks.

In response to the attack, Israel is hammering Gaza with airstrikes, hitting hundreds of targets and reducing neighbourhoods to rubble.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry said the cummulative death toll from the unabated Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and West Bank has reached 1,569, while 7,212 others have been injured.

In Gaza alone, the death toll stood at 1,537, including 500 children and 276 women, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Ministry as saying.

In the last 24 hours, 317 Palestinians were killed and 929 others injured, it added.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of internally displaced persons in the Hamas-administered enclave increased to 423,378 as of Friday -- a 25 per cent spike since the previous day's figure.

The OCHA said that the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) is hosting around 64 per cent of the overal displaced persons in 102 premises operated as designated emergency shelters.

Since Thursday afternoon, Gaza has been undergoing a full electricity blackout, following Israel's halt of its electricity and fuel supply to the enclave on October 8, which in turn triggered the shutdown of Gaza's sole power plant, after it depleted its fuel reserves.

While four out of five of the Gaza wastewater treatment plants have shut down due to lack of power, all the three seawater desalination plants, which had previously produced 21 million liters of drinking water per day, have halted operations completely.

Hostages killed in Israel airstrikes: Hamas

The Al-Qassam Brigades, military wing of the Hamas militant group, on Friday said that Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in the past 24 hours have killed 13 hostages.

Without mentioning the nationalities of the victims, the armed wing said that "13 prisoners, including foreigners" were killed in five locations targeted by Israeli fighter jets, the BBC reported.

According to Israli authorities, Hamas militants are holding as many as 150 people hostage in Gaza following the October 7 surprise attack.

The hostages include senior Israeli army officers, as well as foreign nationals.

The militant group had threatened to kill the hostages if Israel continued to bomb the Gaza Strip without warning.

(With inputs from IANS)