TEL AVIV, March 3. /TASS/. Israel will not end its operation in the Gaza Strip until the Hamas radical movement, which rules the enclave, is exterminated, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

"We (the Israelis - TASS) will not end this war until we eliminate Hamas," he said during a meeting with the military on the border with the Gaza Strip.

According to The Times of Israel newspaper, the minister vowed that Hamas will cease to exist as a ruling organization in the Palestinian enclave. However, in his words, "it will take time."

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 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. 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. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.