TEL AVIV, June 2. /TASS/. Israel is looking for an alternative to Hamas’ rule in the Gaza Strip involving "other forces," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said.

"We are looking for an alternative to Hamas’ rule [in Gaza]. It implies the isolation of territories, elimination of Hamas militants in these areas and involvement of other forces, which will be able to form a ruling alternative," he said at a meeting of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Southern Command.

"While we are conducting major military operations [in the Gaza Strip], the defense ministry concurrently is considering an alternative to the Hamas rule," he said, adding that the operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip "continues on the ground and underground." In his words, Israeli forces "are destroying lines connecting the Gaza Strip and Egypt and will exterminate Hamas" so that it would not be able to revive, strengthen and get armed.

He also stressed that Israel "will not agree to Hamas’ rule in Gaza at any of the stages of any process of ending the war [in the Palestinian enclave." "The military operation and the establishment of a potential for an alternative government [in Gaza] will make it possible for us to attain the goals of this war - to exterminate Hams as a ruling and military force in the Gaza Strip and have our hostages released," he said.

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.