TASHKENT, October 25. /TASS/. Israel will continue with its operation in the Gaza Strip even if members of the Palestinian radical movement Hamas release their hostages and turn themselves in, Jawad Awad, Palestinian Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan told TASS.

"What Israel is currently doing is not a fight against some group, for instance, Hamas. This is a war on Palestinian people in order to drive the rest of the Gaza Strip’s Palestinian population off to the Sinai Desert. Essentially, the implementation of a famous Zionist slogan "A land without a people for a people without a land" continues. They think that this part of Palestine and the Gaza Strip should be completely cleared," the diplomat said.

In his opinion, even releasing the hostages held by Hamas won’t change the situation, not to mention the group itself surrendering. "There is no sense in Hamas surrendering because even in that case Israel will continue its actions so that the remaining Palestinians flee to a safe location," he stressed.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory 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. In response, Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has begun delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.