CAIRO, January 31. /TASS/. The number of casualties resulting from the bombing of various districts of the Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is approaching 27,000 with almost 66,000 wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry reported on its Telegram channel.
"The number of those killed as a result of Israel’s aggression since October of last year has risen to 26,900, and 65,949 people have suffered wounds," the ministry said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel. According to the ministry, "at least 150 people have been killed in the enclave and 313 have been wounded alone in the past 24 hours." Some corpses are still under the rubble, and medical workers are not able to reach them yet.
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. 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.