The death toll of Israel’s war on Gaza rose on Saturday to about 45,000 dead since the outbreak of the fourteen month war, while Israeli raids continued throughout the Strip, especially the Deir al-Balah area, where 18 people were killed, including a journalist.

For its part, the Civil Defense in Gaza reported that 15 Palestinians, including a journalist and a mayor, were killed in raids by the Israeli Air Force on Saturday in Gaza.

Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said: “The mayor of Deir al-Balah, Engineer Diab al-Jarro, was killed, along with six other municipality employees, after the occupation targeted the municipality building in Deir al-Balah in an air strike.”

He explained that the mayor and a number of his staff “were continuing their work to provide water and electricity services to hundreds of thousands of displaced people,” describing what happened as “a new and deliberate crime to hit the service system.”