DUBAI, September 17. /TASS/. Israel is blocking up to 83% of humanitarian aid arriving for the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reported, citing a joint statement by a group of 15 aid organizations.

It noted that the amount of aid being blocked by Israel has increased substantially since 2023, when just 34% of aid was being blocked. The statement also pointed out that "100% of Gaza’s population is now dependent on aid and the shortages mean people are starving."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel has declared a state of war readiness; announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians; and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria, followed by a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.