NEW YORK, October 19. /TASS/. The Israel Defense Forces has been given a green light to enter the Gaza Strip when it’s ready, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat, who is a member of the country’s security cabinet, told ABC television.

"The army has a green light," he said. "The Israeli government made a decision, gave a green light to the army."

The minister said the military will make the move whenever they are ready. He declined to elaborate on any military plans.

"We shall do all efforts to bring our hostages, to bring our hostages [back] alive," he said, but the "first and last priority" is destroying Hamas.

The miles of tunnels that Hamas dug under Gaza will be the "world’s biggest cemetery," he was quoted as saying.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7. Hamas regards the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and has started delivering strikes on that area and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.