JERUSALEM (TIP): The Palestinian death toll has soared past 25,000, the health ministry in the Gaza Strip said while the Israeli government appeared far from achieving its goals of crushing the militant group and freeing more than 100 hostages. At the same time, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has denounced Israel for the “heartbreaking” deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and called it unacceptable to resist statehood for the Palestinian people. Israel’s military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary-general, Guterres said at the opening of a summit of the G77+China in Uganda’s Kampala.

Israel’s military said on Sunday that its soldiers had killed 15 Palestinian gunmen during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip. In the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, where Israel has been increasing pressure on Hamas in recent weeks, the military said that snipers, backed by air support, had “eliminated a number of terrorists.”

In southern Lebanon, two Hezbollah fighters were killed when an Israeli drone hit their vehicle security sources said. Their ranks were not revealed but a source close to the Iranian-backed group said they were not senior figures. It was the latest strike in an area where Israel has targeted dozens of Hezbollah fighters. Israel’s military said it does not comment on foreign reports. Hezbollah has been trading fire across Lebanon’s southern border with Israeli forces in support of the militia group’s Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The level of death, destruction and displacement from the war already is without precedent in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet Israeli officials say the fighting is likely to continue for several more months. Missile attacks in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen have thrown into sharp focus the increasing risk of the war in Gaza triggering a wider regional conflict pitting Iran and its allies against Israel and the US.

After Israeli strikes killed 5 military advisers of Iran in Syria’s Damascus, missiles and rockets launched by Iran-backed militants in Iraq, where such groups have targeted US forces, hit al-Asad air base, the US Central Command said. A number of US personnel were being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries and one Iraqi service member was wounded.

(Agencies)