DUBAI, August 6. /TASS/. At least 16,365 children have been killed in Gaza hostilities since October 7, 2023, the enclave’s authorities said.

According to officials, about 17,000 minors lost one or both parents, and about 3,500 found themselves on the verge of starvation due to severe food shortages.

Gaza officials also said in a statement posted to Telegram that Israeli air strikes destroyed 120 educational institutions and damaged more than 330 others.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel last October accompanied by killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking multiple hostages. Israel declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started a ground operation in the enclave that goes on to this day.