CAIRO, April 5. /TASS/. More than 33,000 Palestinians have died since the start of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave’s Ministry of Health reported.

"The number of victims of the Israeli aggression in Gaza currently stands at 33,091," the department was quoted by the Al Jazeera TV channel as saying. The Health Ministry noted that 75,750 Palestinians have been injured during the Israeli military operation in the enclave.

In the past 24 hours alone, 54 people were killed and 80 injured in the Gaza Strip, the ministry said.

Earlier, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported that at least 14,350 minors have died in the Gaza Strip since the start of the new round of escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7 last year, which is about 44% of the total number of victims. According to statistics, about four children die every hour due to the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. Women and minors account for at least 70% of the total number of missing persons, which now stands at 7,000. In the West Bank, where the Israeli military regularly conducts operations accompanied by clashes, 117 children have been killed and 724 injured.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7, 2023, after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border communities and taking hundreds hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out retaliatory strikes on targets in the Strip, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. On December 1, the Israeli army accused Hamas of violating a ceasefire that had taken effect on November 24 and resumed combat operations in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians held the US responsible for the renewed Israeli aggression.