Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has warned that the Middle East would remain unstable if Hamas remained in power in the Gaza Strip, AFP reports.

“If [Hamas] will stay in power, the regional instability it causes might continue,” Saar said at a press conference.

He said Israel had not managed to get rid of Hamas but had made “an advancement”, turning it “from a terrorist army to a guerilla group”.

If the international community wanted a permanent ceasefire, he added, then it must include the dismantling of Hamas as a military power and ruling entity in Gaza. “Theoretically we can achieve it by an agreement, but that will be negotiated in the future during the first phase,” Saar said.