MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. Israeli Ambassador to Moscow Alexander Ben Zvi has told TASS that he does not plan to contact his Palestinian counterpart Abdel Hafiz Nofal.

"There are no plans for this kind of contact for one simple reason. Neither of us has the authority to discuss anything," Ben Zvi said. "It makes no sense to hold a conversation just for the sake of conversation," he added.

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.