DUBAI, July 18. /TASS/. At least 56 people were killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Al Jazeera TV channel reported, citing the enclave’s Health Ministry.

According to the agency, more than 40 Palestinians were killed in Gaza’s north, including 14 of those awaiting humanitarian aid at distribution points. Another nine civilians died in the enclave’s southern part where Israeli troops shelled the premises of a school where tents for displaced persons were set up.

According to the Gaza Strip’s Health Ministry, 58,667 people have been killed and 139,974 injured since the latest onset of hostilities with Israel.

Tensions erupted again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border settlements and seizing 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 initiated a military operation in the enclave in order to dismantle Hamas’ military and political structure and rescue all those kidnapped, and began delivering air strikes on certain parts of Lebanon and Syria.

On May 18, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it was launching military operations in the enclave’s northern and southern regions as part of its Gideon’s Chariots ground offensive aimed at defeating Hamas forces in Gaza and securing the release of all hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that following the operation, the IDF plans to take control over the entire Gaza Strip.