Gaza, ALRAY - The Prime Minister of the Israeli occupation, Benjamin Netanyahu, threatened Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening, vowing to continue the military operation and declaring that "whoever harms us, we will harm them severely.
Netanyahu made a statement on Tuesday evening at the outset of the Mini-Cabinet (Knesset) meeting, following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that resulted in the deaths of 15 Palestinians and dozens of injuries. He declared that Israel's hand was long enough to reach the resistance in any time and place of its choosing.
At the height of the battle, I advise our enemies not to play with us," Netanyahu stated, referring to the recent military operation in Gaza. He went on to announce that the operation, dubbed "Operation Shield and Arrow," was a joint effort between the Israeli army and the Shin Bet security agency that led to the assassination of three senior Islamic Jihad figures in Gaza.
He claimed that the leaders of the Islamic Jihad who were assassinated Tuesday morning were responsible for launching rocket shells towards Israel and for directing operations against the occupation from the West Bank.
He added that he had given orders to assassinate the three leaders following the rocket attacks launched from Gaza towards Israeli settlements, in response to the death of the prisoner Khader Adnan last week.
He considered that these assassinations would lead to "decapitating" the Islamic Jihad movement in Gaza, stating "Our principle is sharp and clear, whoever harms us, we will harm them with excessive force.”
Meanwhile, Israeli military minister, Yoav Galant, stated that the Islamic Jihad movement had fired indiscriminately on Tuesday, "threatening our citizens and our forces, and we have decided to assassinate those behind it and those behind the attacks from the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accused by the extreme left on Tuesday of launching the operation in order to restore his weakened deterrence against the Otzma Yehudit party.
Early and late on Tuesday, the Israeli occupation army launched an attack on the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the death of 15 Palestinians, including four children and four women, and the injury of 20 others.
