CAIRO, February 20. /TASS/. More than 48,300 Palestinians have been killed as a result of military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

"The number of victims of Israel’s actions since October 2023 has grown to 48,319 with another 111,749 sustaining injuries," the agency said on its Telegram channel. The ministry added that over the past 24 hours, medics pulled 22 bodies from under the rubble in the embattled enclave and 16 injured individuals have been taken to hospitals.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border settlements and seizing more than 240 hostages. 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.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on January 15 that thanks to the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement to implement a ceasefire in Gaza and release hostages held in the enclave. The agreement, which includes three phases, entered into force on January 19.