DUBAI, October 19. /TASS/. At least 73 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the city of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV channel reports.

The WAFA news agency, in turn, said that the attack had wiped out an entire residential block. Dozens of people suffered injuries; many remain trapped under the rubble.

According to the enclave’s Health Ministry, more than 42,500 Palestinians have been killed and 99,600 have suffered injuries in Gaza since October 2023.

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 hostages. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, launching air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria before starting a ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.