BEIRUT, October 13. /TASS/. Fighters of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas have blown up an Israeli Merkava Mk4 tank, Al Mayadeen reported.

The tank was blown up by a landmine west of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the TV channel added.

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.