DUBAI, May 19. /TASS/. Six Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the southern and central parts of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

According to it, three civilians were killed and several others were wounded on Saturday evening as a result of an Israeli air force strike on a residential building in the center of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Earlier it was reported that Israeli warplanes struck a group of people in the eastern part of the Maghazi refugee camp in the center of the enclave, killing three civilians and injuring dozens, including children.

The situation in the Middle East escalated sharply on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Hamas radical Palestinian movement staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and seniors. 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.