TEL AVIV, October 22. /TASS/. Israel’s ground operation in the Gaza Strip may take up to three months, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday.

This war may take months, "but in the end there will be no Hamas," the Times of Israel quoted him as saying.

According to the minister, the Israeli military continues to deliver airstrikes on the Gaza Strip before the ground operation.

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.