The total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since Monday night has reached 165, a Palestinian Health Ministry official said Sunday.
"At least 165 people have been killed and around 1085 injured since the start of the Israeli military operation," Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.
Israel has launched a military offensive – dubbed "Operation Protective Edge" – with the stated aim of ending rocket fire from Gaza.
It has continued to pound the territory with airstrikes, while ground troops remain massed on the Gaza Strip's borders in advance of a possible ground assault.
Gaza-based resistance factions, for their part, have continued to fire hundreds of low-yield rockets into Israel in response to ongoing Israeli airstrikes.
No Israeli fatalities have been reported thus far, with Israel's anti-missile defense systems intercepting numerous Gaza rockets, some of which have reached Tel Aviv.
According to an earlier tally by the ministry, at least 33 children and 16 women were among the fatalities of the Israeli onslaught.
