Gaza death toll reaches 2,329 as Israeli strikes continue

Gaza Strip - Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 2,329 people, the health ministry said Sunday.

It said 9,042 people have also been injured, giving an overall toll as of 7:47 am Sunday as Israel continued its blistering retaliatory air campaign on targets in Gaza.

Israel pressed on Sunday with preparations for a ground offensive in Gaza, after giving Palestinians a little more time to flee northern areas it has vowed to target in response to the deadliest attack in its history.

Since Friday thousands of Gazans, who cannot leave the enclave as it is blockaded by both Israel and Egypt, have packed what belongings they can into bags and suitcases, to trudge through the rubble-strewn streets. A stream of cars, trucks, three-wheeled vehicles, and donkey-drawn carts joined the frantic mass movement south, all loaded with families and their belongings, mattresses, bedding, and bags strapped onto the roofs of parked vehicles.

- Humanitarian crisis - Alarm has grown over the fate of Palestinian civilians in blockaded and besieged Gaza -- one of the world's most densely populated areas, home to 2.4 million -- if it becomes the scene of intense urban combat and house-to-house fighting. Aid agencies have said forcing Gazans to move is impossible while the war rages. But with food, water, fuel, and medical supplies running low because of an Israeli blockade, aid agencies are warning of a deepening humanitarian crisis. "The situation is catastrophic," said Jumaa Nasser, who traveled from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza with his wife, mother and seven children. "We've had no food or sleep. We don't know what to do. I've given my fate up to God," he told AFP.

The World Health Organization said Saturday that forcing thousands of hospital patients to evacuate to already overflowing hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip could be "tantamount to a death sentence". Exiled Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel on Saturday of committing "war crimes" in Gaza but he ruled out any "displacement" of Gazans, including to Egypt.