Hamas says Gaza deaths top 25,000 as Israel pushes offensive

GAZA CITY - Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry on Sunday said the death toll in the war-torn Palestinian territory breached 25,000 as Israel pushed its southward offensive and renewed bombardment in the north.

Israel is pressing its push against Hamas in southern Gaza as it seeks to destroy the Islamist militant group responsible for the deadliest attack in the country's history.

In early January, Israel's military said the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza had been dismantled, leaving only isolated fighters.

But witnesses told AFP Israeli boats were bombarding Gaza City and other areas in the north early Sunday. Hamas has also reported heavy combat in the north.

"Dozens are still under the rubble," the Hamas government's media office said, adding that the dead and injured "could not be transferred to hospitals due to the continued artillery shelling on... Khan Yunis and the Tal al-Hawa area in Gaza City and the north".

The Israeli army said it "eliminated a number of terrorists" in the main southern city of Khan Yunis and killed 15 militants in northern Gaza over the past day.

Thick plumes of smoke billowed above Khan Yunis on Sunday morning, AFP journalists saw.

The October 7 attacks by Hamas resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's relentless bombardment and ground offensive have killed at least 25,105 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.