CAIRO, February 28. /TASS/. Over 30,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, according to data made available by the Health Ministry of the embattled Palestinian enclave.

"The number of casualties of the Israeli forces' military operation in Gaza has now reached 30,035," the ministry said in a statement quoted by Al Jazeera television. According to the Health Ministry, another 70,457 Palestinians have been injured.

In the past day alone, 81 people were killed and 132 wounded during bombardments and shelling of populated areas by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions in the Middle East escalated sharply after the surprise incursion by Gaza Strip-based militants of radical Palestinian movement Hamas into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023. The Hamas militants killed residents of Israeli border settlements and took hundreds of hostages, claiming their attack was in retribution for 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 complete blockade of Gaza and began strikes against the Strip and parts of Lebanon and Syria before launching a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes have also been reported in the West Bank.