UNITED NATIONS, October 12. /TASS/. The number of internally displaced persons (people forced to leave their homes due to hostiles but remaining in their country) in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 330,000, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) said.
"The cumulative number of displaced people increased by 30% over the past 24 hours, now totaling 338,934, of whom over two thirds are taking shelter in UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East - TASS) schools," the report says.
OCHA also expressed its concern at the destruction of civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and reported severe damage to electricity and water utilities and communications networks, mainly in Gaza City and the northern part of the Palestinian exclave.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian Hamas movement staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip.
According to the latest official data, more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the renewed outbreak of violence, while over 5,600 others have suffered wounds. In Israel, over 1,500 people have lost their lives and roughly 4,000 have been wounded.
Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip as it has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria.