DUBAI, August 17. /TASS/. At least 15 people were killed in an Israeli attack in the Az-Zawayda area of the central Gaza Strip, the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera reported.

According to it, the strike hit a warehouse where displaced Palestinians were located. The TV channel footage shows rescue teams sorting through the debris of the destroyed building and removing the bodies of the dead.

The situation in the Middle East has escalated sharply after militants of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas entered Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of border settlements and the taking of hostages. The situation has escalated dramatically once again after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Hamas and Hezbollah blamed Israel for the killings and warned of their reaction.