TEL AVIV, May 6. /TASS/. Israel will be forced to launch a ground military operation in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah because representatives of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas turned down a deal regarding the release of hostages, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said on Monday.

"The actions to return your loved ones continue all the time, even now," The Times of Israel daily quoted Galant as saying during his meeting with families of hostages.

"We are committed to achieving the goals of the war, but the refusal of Hamas of any plan that would allow the return of the hostages forces us to start the operation in Rafah," the Israeli minister noted.

"Even after the start of the operation in Rafah, all efforts to bring home the hostages will continue," Galant added.

The Times of Israel reported earlier on Monday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has begun the evacuation of civilians from the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah close to the Israeli border ahead of a planned offensive in the area. Civilians are being urged to move to an expanded humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi and Khan Younis areas, the paper wrote.

On May 5, Hamas supporters fired about ten rockets from an area near the southern Gazan city of Rafah towards the Kerem Shalom border crossing. The attack killed three Israeli service members and left at least 11 wounded. In response, the Israeli army carried out a series of airstrikes on the outskirts of Rafah in the early hours of May 6, particularly targeting a sniper stronghold and military infrastructure facilities.

Several hours after the shelling attack, Al-Qahira Al-Ihbariya said that participants in the recent round of the Cairo talks on a Gaza ceasefire had achieved "serious progress." The broadcaster added that a Hamas delegation would return to Cairo within the next two days "to give its final response to Egypt’s proposal."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023 after militants of the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas launched a surprise incursion into 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 the Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started a military operation there. Israel is also striking parts of Lebanon and Syria in retaliation for attacks originating from those countries. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.