DUBAI, May 21, 2024 (BSS/TASS) - More than 30 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli army strikes on the Gaza Strip, Qatar's Al Jazeera reported.

According to the TV channel, at least 21 civilians were killed in airstrikes on the towns of Jabalia and Beit Lahia in the north of the Palestinian enclave. Several others were wounded. Al Jazeera also reported that 12 civilians died and several were injured after the Israeli army shelled residential buildings in Gaza City.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. 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 declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.