TEL AVIV, December 23. /TASS/. Israeli forces have apprehended over 700 terrorist suspects during their operation in Gaza, according to a joint statement by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Securities Authority (ISA).

"Within a week, the IDF and ISA apprehended hundreds of suspects involved in terrorist activities in the Gaza Strip, and over 200 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives were brought for further questioning in Israel. Some of the operatives voluntarily turned themselves in," the statement reads.

"Overall, over 700 operatives from terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip have been taken for further questioning thus far," the document added.

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 in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out retaliatory strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria.