BEIRUT, February 16. /TASS/. More than 28,700 people have died and over 68,500 others have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, the enclave's Health Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

According to the ministry, 112 people have become victims of the escalation in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, while 157 others have been injured.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7, 2023, after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking people hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out retaliatory strikes on targets in the Strip and certain areas of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.