UN, December 23. /TASS/. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that 136 members of the UN staff died during the 75 days of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

"136 of our colleagues in Gaza have been killed in 75 days - something we have never seen in UN history. Most of our staff have been forced from their homes. I pay tribute to them and the thousands of aid workers risking their lives as they support civilians in Gaza," he wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) social media page.

Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said earlier that the UN humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip could be paralyzed soon.

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 borderline kibbutz 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.