CAIRO, September 4. /TASS/. More than 40 people were killed over the past 24 hours alone as a result of the ongoing fighting, the enclave’s Health Ministry said on its Telegram channel.

"As many as 42 Arabs have been killed and 107 more people have been injured in the past 24 hours alone as a result of raids and bombardment by Israeli forces," the Ministry of Health said. "The number of victims of Israeli aggression to date has reached 40,861, with 94,398 people injured," the ministry reported.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.