TEL AVIV, December 4. /TASS/. Armed Hamas supporters in the southern part of the Gaza Strip will face the same. or even worse, fate as the radicals in the north, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during his trip to the Gaza border.

According to The Times of Israel, IDF forces are closing the circle around the Shejaiya neighborhood in the southern part of Gaza.

"This time they will not leave it until the entire terror infrastructure there is destroyed. […] These actions, carried out in the north of Gaza, will soon lead to destruction [of the Hamas infrastructure] in the entire city of Gaza and in the north of the Gaza Strip," the Minister said.

"Simultaneously, the IDF started working in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The fate of the terrorists from Hamas battalions there will be the same as in the north, or maybe even worse," he added. "We will keep acting until victory and until we achieve all our goals."

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.