CAIRO, March 14. /TASS/. The number of Palestinians killed since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 31,300, the enclave’s Health Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

"The death toll as a result of Israeli aggression in Gaza has increased to 31,341 since October last year," the ministry said, adding that at least 73,134 people have been injured. According to the Health Ministry, over the past day, 69 people have been killed and 110 more have been injured in the embattled enclave.

Tensions in the Middle East escalated sharply on October 7 of last year after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged surprise incursions from Gaza into borderline Israeli communities, killing residents of Israeli kibbutzim and taking more than 240 people as hostages, including children, women and the elderly. The radicals described the attack as a response to the aggressive actions of the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and launched retaliatory strikes and a ground military operation against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave as well as strikes on parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank. On December 1, the Israeli army accused Hamas of violating the truce in force since November 24 and announced that it was resuming hostilities in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian authorities have blamed the United States for the resumption of Israeli aggression.