CAIRO, May 30. /TASS/. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli military operation has exceeded 36,200, with almost 81,800 people being injured, the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry said.

"The number of those killed as a result of Israeli aggression since October 7 of last year has risen to 36,224 and 81,777 others have been wounded," the ministry wrote on its Telegram channel. According it, over the past 24 hours alone, 53 Palestinians have been killed and another 357 wounded.

Tensions flared up 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. In response, Israel launched a military operation in Gaza to eradicate Hamas’ military and political structure and to release all the hostages.

In late November 2023, a temporary humanitarian truce was brokered by Egypt and Qatar and lasted a week. According to Israel, 110 hostages were released over that period. On December 1, the ceasefire was broken and combat operations resumed and are still ongoing.