Death toll hits 7,326 in Gaza

The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Friday 7,326 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the eruption of war with Israel on October 7.

The latest death toll includes 3,038 children killed, a ministry statement said, while 18,967 people have been wounded across Gaza.

The Hamas list of 6,747 names, released by its health ministry, gave the sex, age and identity card number of each of the victims. It said 281 bodies had not yet been identified.

The ministry said in a statement that the United States had "brazenly cast doubt on the truth of the announced toll".

"We have decided to announce the details of the names to the whole world so that the truth is known about the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against our people."

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he had "no confidence" in the militant group's death toll figures.

"What they say to me is I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war," Biden told a White House press conference.

Biden has, however, been among several Western leaders to caution Israel over the civilian toll. Israel "should be incredibly careful to be sure that they're focusing on going after the folks that (are) propagating this war," he said.

Questioned about Hamas tolls on Thursday, Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht said "when the Hamas health ministry comes out with the numbers just take them with a pinch of salt."

The two sides have had several propaganda clashes during the war.

After a missile hit near a Gaza City hospital on October 17, Hamas blamed an Israeli air strike and said hundreds had been killed. Israel insists that a misdirected rocket fired by a Gaza militant group was to blame. It has also questioned the toll.

The United States and European countries have backed the Israeli version of events.