TEL AVIV, November 15. /TASS/. Israeli forces will search far and wide for the Hamas radical organization as part of their operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

He made this statement during his visit to the Israeli military base in Zikim, located near the Palestinian enclave.

"Do you remember how they said we would not invade Gaza? We did invade. They said that we would not reach the outskirts of Gaza city, but we did. They said that we would not enter the al-Shifa [hospital], but we did. There is not a single place in Gaza that we cannot get to," Netanyahu told the servicemen.

"There is no place to hide, no refuge for the Hamas murderers. We will search far and wide and we will destroy Hamas, and we will bring our hostages back - these are our two sacred missions," he added.

The Prime Minister also said that he had another phone call with US President Joe Biden earlier.

"We do not reject [our goals], we will destroy Hamas and achieve total victory," Netanyahu said.

The situation in the Middle East has escalated abruptly after an armed infiltration of HAMAS militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The HAMAS movement considers this attack a response to the actions of Israeli authorities towards the Al Aqsa Mosque at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Israel announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip and started carrying out strikes on the enclave and certain areas in Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.