CAIRO, April 16. /TASS/. The United States and West’s support for Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip is a factor of the conflict’s escalation, Hamas spokesman Izzat al-Risheq said.

"The United States and West’s participation in supporting Israel’s aggression [in Gaza] has been and continues to be a factor of the conflict’s escalation in the region," Hamas quoted him as saying on its Telegram channel.

According to al-Risheq, the only way to prevent the conflict’s further escalation is to compel Israel "to stop its aggression and war in Gaza."

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.