MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. The latest escalation in the Middle East will not be limited to an Israeli ground offensive against the Gaza Strip only, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl told TASS on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week.

"This will not be just a ground-based operation by the Israelis in Gaza, as there is a major risk of new fronts being opened," Kneissl said. "We saw clashes between Hezbollah (Lebanese militant group - TASS) and the Israel Defense Forces last night, when an Israeli tank was destroyed by Hezbollah rockets. I don’t think that Hezbollah will just sit waiting; something is going to happen for sure," she opined.

According to Kneissl, Palestine and Israel have been in conflict for 18 years already. "The conflict spans beyond the two territories, while the location of Israeli borders is also a big question," she said. "This conflict is symbolic as whenever anything happens in Jerusalem, it reverberates among many," she continued. Kneissl recalled how protests broke out globally after the Trump administration announced that the US would relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem a few years ago.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the radical Palestinian Hamas movement staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip as it has been delivering rocket attacks on Gaza as well as some districts in Lebanon and Syria.

According to the latest official data, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since the renewed outbreak of violence, while over 5,100 others have suffered wounds. In Israel, over 1,200 people have lost their lives and roughly 3,000 have been wounded in clashes, including on the West Bank of the Jordan River.