MORE than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel's bombardment of Gaza in October.
The figure was revealed as a strike on a crowd of people waiting for aid in Gaza City killed and wounded dozens, according to hospital officials.
Dr Jadallah Shafai, the head of the nursing department at Shifa Hospital, told the Al Jazeera network that around 50 people were killed and 250 wounded.
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Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said it had received at least 10 bodies and 160 wounded people.
Fares Afana, the head of the ambulance service at Kamal Adwan, said medics arriving at the scene found “dozens or hundreds” lying on the ground. He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and that some were brought to hospitals on donkey carts.
Dr Mohammad Salha, acting director of the Al-Awda Hospital, said it received 90 wounded and three dead, who were transferred to Kamal Adwan.
“We expect a rise in the number killed,” he said. “There are many wounded still at the reception and the emergency room.”
He said Al-Awda is largely out of commission, with no electricity and the operating room running on battery power with only hours left. Gaza’s health sector is under severe strain nearly five months after Israel launched a renewed offensive in the region.
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The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
Around 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million Palestinians have been driven from their homes and UN officials say a quarter of the population is starving.
The ministry said that 30,035 have been killed and another 70,457 wounded since the start of the war.
Gaza’s health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records of casualties.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.
It says the actual toll is higher because there are bodies buried under the rubble and in areas that medics cannot reach.
Israel has vowed to continue the war until it destroys Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and returns more than 100 hostages still held by the group.
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