TEL AVIV, October 19 /TASS/. Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir called for an immediate resumption of full-scale hostilities in the Gaza Strip in the wake of a Kan state television and radio company report of an Israeli Air Force strike on the south of the enclave in response to Hamas fire.

"I call on Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] to resume hostilities in Gaza fully, with maximum force. The misconception that Hamas will change and even abide by the [ceasefire] agreement it has signed, as expected, turned out to be dangerous for our security," the minister wrote on X.

According to Ben-Gvir, who heads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, Israel must defeat the Palestinian radicals in Gaza fully. "The Nazi terrorist organization (Hamas - TASS) should be completely destroyed - the sooner the better," the politician believes.

Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of Religious Zionism, another far-right party in the ruling coalition, who heads the finance ministry, also commented on the incident on X, writing one word: "War!"

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army attacked the outskirts of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in response to the fire from Palestinian radicals, whom the army accused of "gross violation" of the ceasefire in the enclave.

On October 6, Israel and Hamas resumed indirect negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in the Gaza Strip with the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Turkey. On October 9, the parties to the conflict signed an agreement on the first stage of the peace plan, previously presented by US President Donald Trump. The ceasefire agreement in Gaza entered into force on October 10. During a vote in the cabinet of ministers of Israel, when the agreement was approved, Smotrich, along with Ben-Gvir, spoke out against these agreements.