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Over 43,000 people dead, missing in Gaza Strip, says UNRWA chief

According to the latest data, more than 43,000 people have been killed and more than 103,000 injured since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in October 2023

UNITED NATIONS, November 14. /TASS/. The number of dead, whose bodies have been found and those buried under rubble in the Gaza Strip may exceed 43,000, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini said at a briefing.

"More than 43,000 people are reported killed. Nearly 70% are women and children. Thousands more lie unaccounted for under the rubble or have succumbed to disease," he said.

According to the latest data, more than 43,000 people have been killed and more than 103,000 injured since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 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 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.