TEL AVIV, October 23. /TASS/. At least 21 Israeli children have been orphaned as a result of an attack by the radical Palestinian movement Hamas on the southern parts of the country, Hava Levy, the head social worker under the Israeli Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services, said.

"At least 21 children lost their parents in the massacre in the south of the country. At the moment, the ministry's staff is busy trying to help as many children as possible as quickly as possible, our motto right now is zero bureaucracy," Israeli Army Radio quoted her as saying.

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. On the Israeli side, some 1,400 people have been killed, including children and the elderly, many burned alive. The reports have deeply shocked Israeli society.