Gaza death toll hits 1359: Health ministry

At least 460 were also injured in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip through Wednesday, raising to 7677 the number of Palestinians wounded in the Israeli onslaught against Gaza, Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qodra told Anadolu Agency.Earlier in the day, at least 17 Palestinians were killed and over 200 others injured when Israeli warplanes pounded a popular market in Shujaya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City.The Israeli military aircraft also pounded a school run by the U.N. Palestinian refugees agency (UNRWA) in northern Gaza Strip in the early hours of Wednesday, killing 15 people.Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip - from air, land and sea - with devastating bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from the strip.Gaza-based Palestinian factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities in response to the ongoing Israeli attacks.At least 56 Israelis - 53 soldiers and three civilians - have been killed since the hostilities began.Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip - which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians - within the last six years.In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."Bakudaily.az