CAIRO, December 13. /TASS/. The number of Gaza residents killed by Israeli strikes since tensions escalated on October 7 has risen to 18,500, with nearly 50,600 people injured, the Gaza Health Ministry reported.

"A total of 18,608 people have been killed and 50,594 injured as a result of the Israeli aggression since October 7," the ministry said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

The ministry added that more than 190 bodies of the dead and nearly 500 wounded were brought to hospitals in the enclave in recent hours, in addition to "a large number of victims still under the rubble and in the streets." At least 300 health workers have died as a result of Israeli actions.

According to the ministry, the Gaza Strip's health services have recorded 327,000 cases of infectious diseases in temporary shelters.

The ministry reported earlier that children's vaccines had run out amid Israel's ongoing operation in the enclave. The ministry said that their absence "would have disastrous consequences for children's health and could lead to the spread of diseases, especially among the displaced people in overcrowded shelters."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. 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 declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, 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.