TEL AVIV, October 19. /TASS/. It will take Israel months to defeat the Palestinian radical group Hamas, Benny Gantz, member of the country’s emergency cabinet and ex-defense minister, said.

"It will take a long time. The war in the south - and if need be also in the north or anywhere else - might take months, and the rebuilding will take years," he said, as cited by the Times of Israel.

"Our goal is not just to defeat Hamas, but to promise that the south will be 100% paradise," Gantz said, adding: "After the war, after we win, on any front that we fight, we will be dedicated to this rebuilding."

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.