Israel’s ground and air blitz has laid waste to Gaza. The total recorded Palestinian death toll reached 22,438 by Thursday — almost one per cent of its 2.3 million population, the Gaza health ministry says.

According to Reuters, Israel has claimed it has killed 8,000 fighters in Gaza.

Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip killed more than 20 Palestinians earlier on Thursday, including 16 in Khan Younis in a southern coastal area packed with people who had fled from other parts of the enclave, Gaza health officials said.

Among the dead were nine children, they said. Separately five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in Al-Nusseirat refugee camp, health officials told Reuters.

Gaza residents said Israeli planes and tanks had also bombarded two other refugee camps, prompting many to head south.