Palestinian rights group: Gaza death toll at 1,285
Gaza City - A leading Palestinian human rights group Thursday put the final Palestinian death toll of a 22-day Israeli offensive in Gaza at 1,285, saying nearly 70 per cent of the fatalities were civilians.
Of the 894 civilians killed, 280 were minors and 111 were women, said the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre For Human Rights (PCHR), whose field workers have been recording the impact of the Israeli onslaught since a fragile truce took effect early Sunday.
In addition, 168 members of Hamas' "civilian" police force were killed, it said in a statement sent to journalists.
That would leave the number of Hamas and other combatants killed at 223.
The human rights centre put the number of injured at 4,336, of whom 1,133 were minors and 735 were women.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza had thus far put the Palestinian toll at more than 1,400 killed and over 5,500 injured.
According to the PCHR field workers, more than 2,700 buildings throughout Gaza were destroyed or damaged.
They include 60 police stations and 28 public office buildings used by the Hamas regime in Gaza, among them ministries, municipalities, governorates and Gaza City's parliament building. But it said they also include at least 2,400 houses, 490 of which were destroyed in air strikes.
Thirty mosques were destroyed and 15 were damaged, it said. Israel has said Hamas used these mosques to store some of its large rocket arsenal, believing that as religious insitutions they would be immune from attacks.
The PCHR called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry to investigate alleged crimes committed by the Israeli military against civilians in Gaza.
Thirteen Israelis were killed during the offensive, launched by Israel to curb Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza at its southern towns and villages. (dpa)