CAIRO, October 31. /TASS/. More than 43,200 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli operation in the enclave that began in October 2023, the Health Ministry reported.

According to the agency, "the total number of those killed in Israeli aggression has risen to 43,204, while 101,641 people have suffered injuries."

"As many as 41 people were killed and another 131 were injured in Gaza in the past 24 hours," the statement 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.