DUBAI, August 25. /TASS/. As many as 71 people were killed in Israeli military operations in the central Gaza Strip in the past day, Al Jazeera reports.

According to the broadcaster, more than 100,000 Palestinians fled the Deir el-Balah area in the past two days as Israeli tanks and bulldozers continued to move towards the city.

Gaza’s Health Ministry announced on August 24 that the death toll in Israeli military operations had risen to 40,334, while another 93,356 people had suffered injuries.

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 people hostage. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. In response, Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza, started carrying out retaliatory strikes on targets in the Strip and certain areas of Lebanon and Syria, and launched a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.