DUBAI, October 23. /TASS/. At least seven people were killed in a shelling strike by Israeli tanks on a school in Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip, Palestine’s WAFA news agency reported.

According to the media outlet, the building was sheltering those who were forced to leave their homes.

The news agency noted that over the past 24 hours, Israeli troops have carried out over 20 raids in the enclave which resulted in dozens of casualties.

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. In late November 2023, a temporary humanitarian ceasefire was brokered by Egypt and Qatar, which lasted for a week. During this time, 110 hostages were released, according to the Israeli side. On December 1, the ceasefire was violated and hostilities resumed, continuing to this day.