MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Palestine thinks that Israel may launch its ground operation in the Gaza Strip today or tomorrow, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafez Nofal said on Friday.

"The media is announcing that we are afraid, that we are losing. [Israel] will launch its attack within days, maybe, today or tomorrow," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel. "We think that if such an attack begins, hostilities on both sides - Israel and Hamas - will do a lot of harm to civilians."

"This must be stopped. I think Israel has every opportunity to settle the problem with Hamas without destroying the entire Gaza Strip for this," he stressed.

According to the Palestinian diplomat, the best option would be an international call for a ceasefire. "Then, it will be necessary to open gateways to let humanitarian cargoes - in Egypt and in the West Bank. After that, [it will be necessary] to resolve the problem with the captives, first of all civilians, and use the United Nations to call a conference. <…> And, finally, to convene an international conference to put an end to the confrontation," Nofal stressed.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory. Hamas views its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ steps against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank. More than 4,100 Palestinians have been killed and more than 13,300 others injured. In Israel, at least 1,500 people have lost their lives and almost 4,500 have been wounded.