TEL AVIV, November 20. /TASS/. Israel does not intend to stop its military operation against the Palestinian radical Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, as it will carry on with the offensive even if there is a short pause in fighting to release hostages, minister in Israel's emergency unity government Benny Gantz said.

"Even if there is a ceasefire for the return of our hostages, we will return and strike the enemy with all our might. At the moment, the campaign is expanding, intensifying and deepening," said the minister, quoted by Galei Tzahal, an Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 200 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.