CAIRO, January 6. /TASS/. The death toll in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel's ground operation in the enclave has exceeded 22,700, the Gaza Health Ministry reported.

"The death toll from the Israeli aggression since October 7 has risen to 22,722 dead and 58,166 wounded," the ministry said in a statement published on its Facebook (a social media site banned in Russia since it is owned by Meta corporation deemed extremist by the Russian authorities).

The ministry also said that 122 people had been killed and another 256 injured in the past 24 hours.

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 border settlements and taking over 240 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. On December 1, the Israeli army accused Hamas of violating a ceasefire that had been in effect since November 24 and announced that it would resume fighting in Gaza. Palestinian officials blamed the US for the renewed Israeli aggression.