DUBAI, October 5. /TASS/. At least 741 Palestinian civilians were killed and over 6,250 wounded in the West Bank in the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian escalation that began on October 7, 2023, Palestine’s WAFA news agency reported citing the country’s health ministry.

A total of 163 of those killed are children.

According to an earlier report by the Health Ministry of Gaza, over 41,800 Palestinians were killed and 96,800 wounded in the enclave in the reported period.

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.