CAIRO, October 27. /TASS/. The first delegation of foreign doctors has entered the territory of the blockaded Palestinian Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing on the enclave's border with Egypt, the Al Hadath TV channel reported.

According to the media outlet, the delegation of medics entered Gaza at the same time as another convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the territory of the enclave.

Some time before crossing from Rafah into Gaza, members of the delegation met with representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Egyptian territory. The TV channel did not specify how many doctors were part of the first group to enter the Palestinian enclave.

Earlier, the Palestinian movement Hamas, which runs the local administration in Gaza, said that the enclave’s public health system is in a catastrophic situation. According to them, Gaza medical facilities are not receiving fuel and electricity, as well as the necessary medicines and medical equipment, and there is a shortage of beds and a severe shortage of staff. In addition, some hospitals have been destroyed or rendered inoperable by Israeli shelling, while others have been turned into temporary shelters for the homeless.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas staged a surprise attack on 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. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.

According to the latest official data from the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed since the renewed outbreak of violence, while over 18,500 others have suffered wounds. In Israel, over 1,400 people have lost their lives and roughly 5,200 have been wounded in clashes, including on the West Bank.