MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. The United States is in touch with the leaders of the Palestinian radical movement Hamas via Qatar, a Russian foreign ministry official told TASS on Tuesday.

According to media reports, the US is currently maintaining such contacts. "This is so," the official said answering a corresponding question.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip attacked Israeli territory, killing many Israelis living in the settlements near the border and abducting more than 200 people, including children, women and the elderly. 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.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari said earlier that his country’s ground troops were expanding operations in the Gaza Strip.