GAZA, December 29, 2008 (WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) continued, Monday, their raids on the Gaza Strip for the third day, rising the death toll to 345 victims, making this the deadliest military operation in Gaza since Israel seized control of the coastal territory from Egypt in 1967.

Palestinian and media sources in Gaza reported that Israeli air strikes hit overnight a security compound seized by Hamas, a mosque, the Islamic University, and a network of tunnels along the border with Egypt. The Palestinian death toll hovered around 300, making this the deadliest operation in Gaza since Israel seized control of the coastal territory from Egypt in 1967.

Meanwhile, the international Red Cross said Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the casualties from Israeli air strikes.

'Hospitals are overwhelmed and unable to cope with the scale and type of injuries that keep coming in,' Marianne Robyn Whittington, an ICRC health delegate in Gaza, said in a statement from the organization.