BERLIN, October 17. /TASS/. Tel Aviv is most likely to launch a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip only after US President Joe Biden concludes his visit to Israel, Germany’s Der Spiegel weekly reports, citing sources.

According to the sources, "it is almost out of the question" that Israel "would provoke Biden during his visit by deploying its ground forces."

Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) International Spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said at a briefing that the US president’s visit would have no impact on the Israeli army’s activities in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Biden would arrive in Israel on October 18. According to him, the Israeli authorities would inform the US president of the country’s security needs.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again on October 7 after militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. 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. 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. Over 2,800 Palestinians have been killed and more than 11,200 have suffered wounds; in Israel, the death toll stands at about 1,500 and nearly 4,000 people have been wounded.