Israel Will Not Let Hamas Turn Israelis Living in South Into Hostages - Foreign Ministry
Israel will not allow the Hamas movement, which de facto governs Palestine's Gaza Strip, to effectively take the Israelis living in the south of the country hostage by shelling Israeli territory near the enclave, Director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Eurasia Department Yaakov Livne told Sputnik on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Israel said that around 370 rockets had been launched from the Palestinian enclave at the Israeli territory since late Monday. The Israeli side has said that the shelling killed one person and wounded over 50 others, attacking around 150 targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation. Palestinian medics, in turn, have said that six people were killed and another 25 sustained injuries as a result of Israel's strikes.
"We have every right to protect the civilian population from the shelling of such a terrorist organization like Hamas.
We also saw rockets and even anti-tank shells that were targeting civilian buses. What Hamas is trying to do is create a situation where the civilian population of the south of Israel will be its hostages. This is an abnormal situation and we, of course, will do what is necessary to change it," Livne said.
Since late March, Palestinians have been continuing regular clashes with Israeli troops on the Gaza border, while the Israeli side continues to accuse Gaza of shelling. Palestine, which remains only partially recognized as a state, has been involved in a decades-long territorial dispute with Israel.
Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by a number of countries, including Israel and the United States.