BERLIN, March 10. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for declaring a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during the Holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which will last this year from March 10 to April 9.

"The best option is [to declare a ceasefire] during Ramadan," he said in a video podcast posted on his X page. "This ceasefire must ultimately yield the release of the Israeli hostages and help deliver more humanitarian aid to Gaza," he stressed.

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.