The Health Ministry in Gaza on Saturday said that 324 Palestinians have been killed and 1,000 others have been wounded in Israeli air raids in Gaza in the past 24 hours.
It added that 66 percent of the victims are children and women, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, international security analyst Yusuf Alabarda told Al Jazeera that Israel is preparing for a ground assault that is likely to result in a large number of casualties, the success of which should not be taken for granted.
“Israel will try to dismantle Hamas and [evacuate] the civilians, but the reality on the ground is not so simple,” Alabarda told Al Jazeera.
Hamas is estimated to hold more than 100 captives in Gaza and will likely be able to capture Israeli soldiers as urban battles rage, the analyst said.
Israel has ordered 1.1 million residents to evacuate the northern part of the Strip ahead of a looming ground offensive.
“Claiming that 1.1 people can move from one part to the other is easy to say but difficult to do, because of lack of fuel, electricity,” Alabarda said, adding that a number of them would likely support Hamas during urban fighting.
