Israeli offensive on Gaza kills 50 on Monday: medics

The ongoing Israeli large-scale offensive on the Gaza Strip Monday left 50 Palestinians killed and over 200 wounded, medics said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the health ministry in Gaza, said 32 bodies were pulled out from under the rubble in various areas in the Gaza Strip and 18 were killed in various air strikes, Xinhua reported late evening.

Most the bodies of the 50 people are civilians, including children and women, he added.

Paramedics and rescue workers said Monday that they managed to pull out corpses from various areas in the Gaza Strip, adding that they found bodies of women and children buried under the rubble since Thursday and Friday.

They said that picking up the corps happened during the seven- hour humanitarian ceasefire announced by Israel earlier Monday.

The death toll since the beginning of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip has climbed to 1,868 and 9,470 wounded, the Gaza health ministry said in statement .

Meanwhile, Zeyad Nakhallah, a senior Islamic Jihad leader who is currently in Cairo attending talks with the Egyptians on mediating a ceasefire with Israel, said he expects a ceasefire to be declared within the coming few hours.

A high-ranking Palestinian delegation comprises Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PLO has been holding talks with the Egyptians on reaching a cease-fire agreement with Israel that ends more than four weeks of fighting.