New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS): Gaza Health Ministry on Monday said the death toll from Israeli strikes since war broke out in October last has passed 25,000, media reports said.

The ministry said that 25,105 Palestinians -- many of them women and children -- had been killed and 62,681 have been wounded in Israeli strikes since October 7.

“178 Palestinians had been killed in the past 24 hours, one of the deadliest days of the war so far. Israel's military said a soldier was killed in fighting,” the ministry said.

Media reports also said that Israeli forces and Hamas fighters clashed in several places, from Jabalia in the north to Khan Younis in the south, the focus of recent Israeli operations.

“Israeli planes resumed heavy bombing on Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip and explosions echoed throughout the city,” reports said.

They said that explosions lit the skies in parts of the Khan Younis refugee camp, and Palestinian health officials said one Palestinian was killed and seven wounded in one air strike as night fell.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday denounced Israel for what he called the "heartbreaking" deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

"Israel's military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary-general," Guterres said.