BEIRUT, December 19. /TASS/. The number of Gaza residents killed since tensions escalated on October 7 has increased to 19,667, the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

According to the ministry, another 52,586 people have suffered wounds. The ministry added that in recent hours 300 injured people and the bodies of 214 victims were taken to medical institutions in Gaza.

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 people hostage, including women, children and the elderly. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on targets in the enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.