BEIRUT, January 26. /TASS/. The number of casualties in the Gaza Strip since the start of a new round of escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7, 2023, has increased to 26,083, the Gaza Health Ministry reported on its Telegram channel.
"Another 64,487 people suffered injuries", the ministry said. According to the data, "183 people were killed and another 377 were injured" over the past 24 hours of fighting in Gaza.
The Ministry of Health claims that many bodies remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings and in the streets of the enclave, as the local civil defense representatives are unable to access them due to the bombing by the Israel Defense Forces.
The Middle East situation dramatically escalated after Palestinian Hamas militants entered Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, killing border residents and taking more than 240 hostages, including children, women and the elderly. The radical movement labeled the attack a retaliation to the Israeli authorities' actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started striking the Strip and certain areas in Lebanon and Syria before launching a ground operation in the enclave. The West Bank is also experiencing fighting.