NEW YORK, November 1. /TASS/. Israel could discuss halting its military operations for several hours, Politico reported, citing an Israeli official.

The official said the country "is willing to discuss a humanitarian pause of a few hours," the news website reported. A ceasefire is still off the table, the official added.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, accompanied by mass killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking more than 200 hostages, including children, women and elderly people. 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.