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Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Israel's military has killed 413 Palestinians in retaliation for Hamas' Saturday offensive against the country as Palestine chastised the West for "double standards" to the ongoing violence. Palestine's Health Ministry said in a statement Sunday that 2,300 Palestinians were also injured by Israeli forces retaliating for Saturday's attack.
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Among the dead were 78 children and 41 women, it said.
Hamas -- which is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and other Western allies -- had launched a surprise missile strike against Israel on Saturday, leaving possibly thousands wounded as the country celebrated the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
Earlier this year, Israel Defense Forces filed missile strikes on Gaza -- including one that killed 13 people including four children. Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem at least twice, including during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, and Israelis have encroached on Palestine's lands in the West Bank with new settlements.
Palestine is recognized by most nations around the world as a sovereign nation and has observer status with the U.N. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this year also reaffirmed Washington's commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict.
Palestine's Red Crescent Society shared pictures of bloodied and injured Palestinian children being treated by medical workers on social media.
In a statement on Twitter, Palestine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Western reactions "ignore the number of Palestinian casualties and destruction."
"Within the framework of the hasty reactions of the international community to give Israel a free hand in abusing the Palestinian people and to go so far as to use all of its lethal weapons against the Palestinian people, specifically in the Gaza Strip, we witnessed the beginnings of retaliatory military operations that targeted residential communities," Palestine's Foreign Ministry said.
Palestine's Foreign Ministry said that children and women were also killed and injured and that a large numbers of fatalities were "defenseless civilians."
"Here the ministry wonders: Where are the international community's responses to this?
"The ministry affirms that killing civilians under international cover is considered a war crime, and the international authorization for Netanyahu to commit massacres under the right of self-defense makes the international community a partner in these crimes."
Palestine urged the international community "to pay close attention to the collective punitive measures" imposed by Israel including Israel's "decision to cut off electricity, water, and basic goods with the aim of starvation, all of which is considered a war crime that is tolerated by the international community."
Palestine said that Israel's actions required "widespread condemnation by the international community" so as "not to fall into a trap of double standards and political double standards."
Israel's minister of energy Israel Katz has cut power to the Palestinian enclave, which Palestinian officials say threatens Gaza's health and humanitarian system.
"We need urgent action from all sides to support our emergency needs of medicines, medical consumables, fuel, and high-capacity electrical generators," Palestine's health ministry said.
The United Nations' humanitarian office said Sunday that more than 50 Israeli forces personnel and civilians, including women and children, have been captured by Hamas and forcibly taken into Gaza.
It also said the fighting has displaced more than 123,538 people in Gaza, with an estimated 73,500 sheltering in 64 schools.
Meanwhile, Israel said its death toll has risen to 700 since Saturday's attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned citizens that they are "embarking on a long and difficult war" with Hamas, with the first phase of destroying "enemy forces that infiltrated our territory" nearing its end and a second offensive phase having begun.
According to The New York Times, some Israelis are flying home to fight against Palestinians as former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper compared the Hamas attack to 9/11 and Western media, including CNN, branded the attack "terrorism."
Blinken said he met with senior advisors Sunday to discuss the "terrorist attacks" on Israel.
"We will continue to work to ensure Israel has what it needs to protect its citizens and to secure the release of hostages," he said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday deployed several warships to the Middle East in reaction to the fighting in Israel and said that the Israel Defense Forces will receive additional equipment and resources, including munitions, in the coming day.
Blinken has also spoken with Hakan Fidan, his Turkish counterpart, to try an encourage his advocacy for a cease-fire.
