DUBAI, November 19. /TASS/. More than 13,000 residents of the Gaza Strip have been killed as a result of hostilities since October 7 when the Palestinian-Israeli conflict escalated, the enclave’s government said on Sunday.

"The number of those killed has exceeded 13,000, of whom 5,500 are children and 3,500 are women. The number of victims among medical personnel - doctors, nurses, and paramedics - has reached 201, among civil defense representatives - 22, and among journalists - 60," it said in a statement posted on its Facebook account (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).

Apart from that, more than 30,000 people have been wounded. Women and children account for 75% More than 6,000 are reported missing.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.