Deir el-Balah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinian rescuers mourn one of their fellow first responders killed in a strike near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah. Fighting between Israel and Hamas is raging in the besieged Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, and 250 people taken hostage, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. In response, Israel launched a relentless air and ground offensive that has killed at least 21,822 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
