BEIRUT, December 19. /TASS/. At least 140 medical facilities in the Gaza Strip have come under fire from the Israeli Defense Forces since October 7, the enclave's Health Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

According to the department, 310 medical workers have become casualties in the strikes and 102 ambulances have been destroyed.

The Health Ministry reiterated the very difficult situation in the health sector. The ministry also appealed to international organizations to help hospitals in Gaza, which are in dire need of additional staff, medicine and fuel.

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 taking place in the West Bank.