TEL AVIV, October 19. /TASS/. The number of Russian nationals who have been killed on Israeli soil since the latest escalation broke out in the region has risen to 19, Marina Ryazanova, spokeswoman for the Russian embassy in Israel, told TASS.

"We regret to say that as of 12:00 p.m. Moscow time on October 19, 19 Russian nationals who also had Israeli citizenship have been reported killed," the Russian diplomat said, citing updated Israeli reports. "The embassy’s consular department is staying in touch with the families [of those killed] while looking into the circumstances [of the deaths]," she added.

Also, Ryazanova updated the number of people missing due to the hostilities to seven. Earlier reports said 16 Russians had been killed with nine people being missing. "We are making every effort to establish the whereabouts of those missing," she emphasized.

Russian diplomats have been monitoring departures from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, Ryazanova said.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank of the Jordan River as well.