TEL AVIV, February 26. /TASS/. The Israeli military has eliminated at least 40 armed Palestinian radicals during the past 24 hours of fighting in the Gaza Strip, the army's press service reported.

"As a part of IDF (the Israel Defense Forces - TASS) activities in Zaytun in the northern Gaza Strip <...> over the past day, with assistance from the IAF [the Israeli Air Force], IDF troops killed approximately 30 terrorists who operated adjacent to IDF troops in the area," the statement said.

In addition, more than ten other armed radicals were killed in fighting in the central part of the Palestinian enclave, the army added.

The press service said that the Israeli military continues to increase its activity in the area of the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. "In western Khan Yunis, IDF troops killed a number of terrorists using tank and sniper fire. In addition, IDF troops directed a fighter jet that struck a compound in which two terrorists were located. Following the strike, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the terrorists were carrying numerous weapons," the military said in a statement.

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 before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.