CAIRO, October 19. /TASS/. At least nine Palestinians were killed as Israel hit a residential house in the city of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, Palestine’s Al Ray news agency reported on Wednesday.

According to the agency, there were seven children among the casualties.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory. Hamas views its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ steps against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank. More than 3,400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,000 others injured. In Israel, at least 1,500 people have lost their lives and almost 4,500 have been wounded.