DUBAI, December 16. /TASS/. The death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 100 over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian movement Hamas said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.

Earlier, Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli military had killed at least 50 people in the past 24 hours in strikes on various parts of the enclave, with four attacks targeting schools that had been converted into temporary shelters for displaced Palestinians.

There were also reports of shelling of residential buildings in Gaza City and the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the strip. Among the victims of the Israeli attacks were an Al Jazeera cameraman, two other Palestinian journalists and five members of the Palestinian Civil Defense.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian Hamas militants infiltrated the Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hostages. Israel responded by declaring a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launching a military operation in the region.