NEW YORK, October 31. /TASS/. An official spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, confirmed that the Israeli military had delivered a strike on the Jabalya refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Hecht told CNN that the strike was carried out in an attempt to eliminate a commander of the HAMAS radical Palestinian movement. He described the related civilian casualties as "the tragedy of war."

Al Hadath reported, citing the Palestinian Interior Ministry, that more than 400 people were killed or injured as a result of the Israeli attack. Half of them are children, the ministry added.

Commenting on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated earlier in the day that the international humanitarian law establishes clear rules that cannot be ignored. "It is not an a la carte menu and cannot be applied selectively," he added.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Hamas militants 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 announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.

On October 27, the IDF’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, announced the expansion of Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza.