CAIRO, December 4. /TASS/. The number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank due to the actions of Israeli law enforcement agencies since October 7 has risen to 256, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, two people were killed by shelling during a detention operation in the city of Qalqilya. "The number of those killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the year has risen to 464, including 256 people killed since October 7," the ministry said on Facebook (prohibited in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking over 200 people, including women, children and the elderly, hostage. 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 Gaza and started carrying out strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.