CAIRO, May 16. /TASS/. Over 35,300 Palestinians have died and more than 79,200 suffered injuries as a result of the military operation by the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip which started at the beginning of last October, according to the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian enclave.

"The number of victims of the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip has reached 35,272," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

According to the report, 79,205 Palestinians have been injured in the enclave. Over the past 24 hours alone, Israeli forces in Gaza killed 39 people and injured 64, the Ministry of Health said.

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.