BEIRUT, May 22. /TASS/. At least 35,709 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated on October 7, 2023, the enclave’s Health Ministry said.

According to the report, 79,990 Palestinians have been injured in the enclave. Over the past 24 hours alone, Israeli forces in Gaza killed 62 people and injured 138, 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.