MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. Israel will expand its ground operations in Gaza if necessary, Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi told TASS.

"If necessary, yes," he said, when asked whether the Israel Defense Forces could expand the operations. "If there are opportunities and if there is a need, then yes, it will be expanded."

According to the diplomat, further developments depend on where Hamas militants are and how to fight them best.

The ambassador said the ground operation has already expanded.

"While before it was near the border and so on, now it is expanding to a wider area of the Gaza Strip," he said.

Additionally, the diplomat said 12 soldiers Israeli soldiers had been killed.

"Two yesterday and 10 today, as they reported. This is a war. And unfortunately, we also have people that were killed," the ambassador said.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7. Hamas regards the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and has started delivering strikes on that area and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.