TEL AVIV, October 16. /TASS/. There is currently no ceasefire in effect in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.

"At the moment, there is no ceasefire for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and the exit of foreigners," the office pointed out.

Earlier, the Al Arabiya TV channel reported that a five-hour ceasefire would take effect in southern Gaza at 9:00 a.m. local time (6:00 a.m. GMT). However, the Israeli army said at about 9:00 a.m. that air raid sirens had gone off twice in southern Israel bordering the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas radical movement has also denied reports of a ceasefire in Gaza. Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas spokesman, said on Telegram that media reports about the ceasefire were untrue.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after Hamas militants infiltrated Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7. The Palestinian movement described its attack as a response to the actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel announced a total blockade of Gaza and started carrying out strikes on the Palestinian enclave, as well as on certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank. More than 2,700 Palestinians have been killed and about 10,800 have suffered wounds; in Israel, the death toll stands at about 1,500 and nearly 4,000 people have been wounded.