TEL AVIV, October 13. /TASS/. Around a thousand of foreign journalists arrived in Israel on the first days of the latest escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Israeli government’s press service said.

"In the first four days of the war, almost 1,000 journalists arrived from various countries, and their [accreditation] requests were processed by the government’s press service.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel declared a state of readiness for war, announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank. Over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,200 have suffered wounds; in Israel, the death toll stands at about 1,500 and almost 4,000 people have been wounded.