WASHINGTON, November 12. /TASS/. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Saturday that the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East needs to be avoided, the US Department of Defense said in a statement.

Austin "reaffirmed Israel's right to self-defense and reiterated the importance of both protecting civilians and delivering humanitarian relief," according to the statement.

"He emphasized the need to contain the conflict to Gaza and avoid regional escalation," the statement said.

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 killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking more than 200 hostages, including children, women and elderly people. Hamas has cast 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.