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Death toll in Gaza exceeds 1,000

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-14 23:57

GAZA - A senior medical official said on Wednesday that 1,010 Palestinians were killed and 4,600 others wounded since Israel launched air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian boy carries his belongings as he leaves his house during Israel's offensive in Khuzaa in the southern Gaza Strip January 14, 2009. [Agencies]

Gaza emergency chief Mo'aweya Hassanein told reporters that so far 1,010 Palestinians have been killed, and 4,600 wounded, adding that around half of them civilians.

Hassanein said 26 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in a series of air and ground strikes on buildings and houses all over the Gaza Strip, mainly on eastern Gaza City and northern Gaza Strip.

The Islamic Hamas movement announced on Wednesday that it accepted an Egyptian-brokered initiative to reach a ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza-based local news agency of "Ramattan" quoted senior Hamas sources as saying that the movement has accepted the initiative of a ceasefire between Haams and Israel.