Gaza death toll tops 2,000, Hamas says

The death toll in the war-torn Gaza Strip rose above 2,000 Monday, the Hamas Health Ministry says, as more people injured in over a month of fighting with the Israelis succumbed to their wounds.

According to a ministry statement, a total of 2,016 people were killed and another 10,196 wounded. Among the dead were 541 children, 250 women and 95 elderly men, it says.

Israel says 750-1,000 of the dead are Hamas and other gunmen. It also blames Hamas for all civilian fatalities, since Hamas set up its rocket-launchers, tunnel openings and other elements of its war machine in Gaza neighborhoods and uses Gazans as “human shields.”

Israel has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians in the fighting. Eleven of the soldiers were killed by Hamas gunmen emerging from cross-border tunnels dug under the Israeli border. Hamas has fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel, including some 600 from close to schools, mosques and other civilian facilities, the Israeli army says.

— AFP contributed to this report.