The Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday that more than 700 people died in the Gaza Strip in the past day due to airstrikes by Israel.

The ministry said in a statement that at least 704 Palestinians died in the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll to five-thousand-791, including two-thousand-360 children.

It added that 12 out of 32 hospitals in Gaza suspended operations due to Israeli attacks.

The combined death toll from the two sides since October 7 has reportedly surpassed seven-thousand amid massive aerial strikes by Israel and intensive assaults by Hamas ahead of a possible Israeli ground operation.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday that a ground offensive into Gaza was being delayed by “tactical and even strategic considerations.”

Meanwhile, negotiations to secure the release of a large number of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are reportedly under way, but no breakthroughs have yet to come amid a number of complicating factors.