CAIRO, January 12. /TASS/. Over 23,700 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip in Israeli shelling of the enclave since tensions escalated in October 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

"Since the beginning of October 2023, 23,708 people have been killed as a result of Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip," the Al Hadath TV channel quoted ministry as saying, adding that over 60,000 people were injured. In the past 24 hours alone, 151 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 250 were wounded in Israeli attacks, according to the Health Ministry.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023 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.