Gaza, Dec 21: At least 20,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war with Israel began, the Hamas government’s media office in Gaza said on Wednesday

About 8,000 children and 6,200 women were among the dead, it said, as the conflict continued to rage more than two months after it broke out on October 7.

At least 52,600 have been injured and 6,700 are missing, the office added.

A military search dog with a body camera captured audio of three Israeli hostages shouting for help in Hebrew, five days before they were shot dead Israeli troops, army spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

According to information released on Wednesday as part of a continuing investigation, the dog captured the audio on December 10.

In the audio, the hostages can be heard shouting in Hebrew the words “help”, “hostages”, and two of their names, Alon and Yotam.

Soldiers had sent the dog into a building the Shijaiyah neighbourhood of Gaza city, suspecting that militants were in inside.

The dog was shot to death by the militants, who were killed in a firefight with Israeli troops.

Israel’s military believes this is how the hostages were able to escape.

The dog’s recording was not reviewed until after the hostages were killed days later.

They were shirtless and held a stick with a white cloth as they emerged on Friday from a building about 1km from the area that had been searched by the dog.

An Israeli sniper killed the first two hostages while the third ran back into the building but was killed by other soldiers.

Israel’s military chief Herzi Halevi has said the shooting was against the military’s rules of engagement.

Iris Chaim, the mother of one of the killed hostages, released a recorded message for the military unit involved in the death of her son.

“I know that everything that happened is not your fault. It is the fault of Hamas,” she said.

Ms Chaim said she thought soldiers’ actions were “the most right thing to do in that moment”.