BEIRUT, March 11. /TASS/. At least 31,112 people have died and 72,760 others have been injured in the Gaza Strip since tensions escalated on October 7, 2023, the enclave’s Health Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

According to the ministry, 72% of the victims are women and children. The ministry added that over the past 24 hours, 67 people became victims of military actions in the strip, while another 106 were wounded.

In addition, the ministry reported that at least 25 people died in Gaza from malnutrition and dehydration.

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.