CAIRO, December 30. /TASS/. At least 312 Palestinian medics have been killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s actions since October 7 when the armed conflict escalated dramatically, the enclave’s health ministry said.

"Israel’s crimes against Gaza’s healthcare system have led to the death of 312 medics. As many as 104 ambulances have been destroyed or damaged. Israel delivered strikes on 142 medical facilities. As a result, 23 hospitals and 53 medical centers are not operating," it said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel. "Israel continues to keep in custody at least 99 Palestinian medics, including chief physicians of hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip."

According to the ministry, the ongoing conflict has claimed the lives of 21,672 Palestinians and 56,165 have been injured.

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 reported in the West Bank.