DUBAI, September 26. /TASS/. At least 693 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, 2023, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories said.

The document also pointed out that 23 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the same period, including 17 Israel Defense Forces servicemen.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as retaliation for the aggressive actions taken by Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, launching air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria before starting a ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.