TEL AVIV, May 14. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are currently attacking the Gaza Strip, the IDF press service informed.

"IDF air and ground troops are currently attacking in the Gaza Strip," the Israeli army stated on Twitter.

The Israeli military did not say whether this signifies the start of a ground operation, or a combined attack on a certain target, adding that more details will be available later.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement published by the Israeli PM office on Friday that the operation in the Gaza Strip will take as long as it is necessary to restore peace and security in Israel.

The exchange of missile attacks between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which has been going on since May 10, was triggered by riots in East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque. Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police officers erupted after an Israeli court had ruled to evict several Palestinian families from the city’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and hand the property over to Jewish settlers, saying that had owned it before 1948. The Gaza Health Ministry said earlier that 109 Palestinians had been killed in the attacks, including 28 women and 15 children, and over 620 people were injured. Media reports say that Palestinian radicals’ attacks on Israeli cities have killed at least six Israelis.