DUBAI, May 6. /TASS/. Over 20 people died as a result of the Israeli army's strike in the south of the Gaza Strip, Qatar’s Al Jazeera reported.

According to the TV channel, at least 21 people were killed after the Israeli army struck 11 residential buildings in the central and eastern districts of Rafah, located in the south of the Palestinian enclave. Al Jazeera also emphasized that children were among the victims.

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.