DUBAI, March 11. /TASS/. At least eight Palestinians have been killed as a result of a massive Israeli shelling of the evacuation zone in Al-Mawasi in the south of the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported.
According to the TV channel, this area was considered safe because many people had taken shelter there after the Israeli army ordered them to move from Khan Yunis to this part of the enclave. Al Jazeera pointed out that several dozen families were affected as they prepared to celebrate the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.
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.