UN, Oct 29, 2023 (BSS /TASS) - The UN Security Council will hold a meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Monday, October 30, the Permanent Mission of Brazil, which chairs the Security Council in October, announced on Saturday.

"The meeting will be held on Monday at 03:00 p.m. (10:00 p.m. Moscow time, 07:00 p.m. GMT - TASS)," the Brazilian mission reported.

Earlier, the UAE requested the meeting after the Israeli military announced it was expanding ground operations in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory on October 7, when many Israelis living in the settlements near the border were killed and more than 200 people, including children, women and the elderly, were taken hostage. Hamas views its attack as a response to Israeli authorities' steps against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

According to the latest data, more than 1,400 people became victims of the conflict on the Israeli side, and over 5,200 were wounded. As a result of Israeli strikes on Gaza, according to the enclave's Health Ministry, more than 7,000 Palestinians were killed and almost 18,500 were injured.