DUBAI, Feb 12, 2024 (BSS/TASS) - The death toll from the massive Israeli Defense Forces strike on the city of Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt, has risen to 100, the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen reported.

More than 230 people were injured. Most of the victims of the attack are women and children, the TV channel said.

It was reported earlier that Israeli Air Force planes were carrying out targeted strikes on the Al-Huda and Al-Rahma mosques, where many refugees are located. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported bombing of residential buildings in the surrounding area and the organization's headquarters.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities' aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.