The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 12 Palestinians have been killed and 12 others wounded in Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave over the past 24 hours.
In its daily statistical update, the ministry said that 11 Palestinians were killed in latest strikes while one person succumbed to injuries sustained in a previous Israeli attack.
The ministry said the overall death toll from Israel’s brutal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has risen to 73,305, with 173,918 others wounded.
According to the ministry, many victims remain trapped under rubble and on roads as ambulance and civil defence teams are still unable to reach them.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military is quietly but quickly building a giant earthen barrier separating over 50 percent of Gaza it occupies from the rest of the territory, according to satellite imagery gathered by Planet Labs PBC, further entrenching the division of the densely populated Palestinian enclave.
More than 23 kilometres (14 miles) have been constructed in recent months, running through Palestinian communities demolished by the military. That is equivalent to more than half the length of the coastal enclave, which is some 40 kilometres (25 miles) long and 11 kilometres (7 miles) wide, and home to over 2 million Palestinians.
Daily attacks
When presented with the satellite images, Israel’s military confirmed to The Associated Press it has built a physical barrier in the area of “Yellow Line”, the so-called boundary to which Israeli troops withdrew under the October ceasefire deal with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The line was envisioned in the US-backed agreement as a temporary division of the territory pending a fuller Israeli withdrawal.
But as the truce stagnates, it appears Israel is digging in, heightening Palestinian fears that the line is morphing into a border.
Neither US Central Command, which is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire, nor the Board of Peace, the body led by US President Donald Trump meant to eventually oversee Gaza, would comment on the barrier.
Along with the barrier, the Israeli military said it has developed a “security zone” around the line, equipped with intelligence and technological assets. It declined to give details on the route of the barrier when asked how far it would be extended.
Despite the ceasefire deal, the Israeli army has continued daily attacks in Gaza, killing at least 1,168 Palestinians and wounding 3,798 others, according to the health ministry.
