TEL AVIV, October 31. /TASS/. At least 33 children are being held hostage by the radical Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"Hamas is holding over 200 Israelis hostage, including 33 children. Holding them, terrorizing them, keeping them as hostages," he told a press conference.

"Every civilized nation should stand with Israel in demanding that these hostages be freed immediately and freed unconditionally," he added.

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 has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has begun delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.