TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2020) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday threatened the Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip with a massive military operation if a long lasting truce is not reached.
The remarks come amid a new aggravation of tensions on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip and ongoing shelling of Israeli southern territories with rockets.
"Beyond the severe blows that we are inflicting on our enemies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad need to understand - it will not continue this way. If they do not stop firing completely, and I do not mean for a day or two, but in general, if there will not be a complete halt, we will be obliged to activate the plan for an extensive campaign that we have prepared," Netanyahu said as quoted by the government press service.
At the same time, Netanyahu noted that the war was the last option.
"I am not rushing to go there. I know the cost our soldiers pay and the families of the fallen. This is the last option, but if there is no choice, we will go there," he stressed.
Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces said that over 40 rockets had been fired by militants from Gaza at Israeli territory over the past 24 hours. One rocket hit a children's playground in the Israeli city of Sderot, but there have been no reports about casualties. In response, Israeli military attacked some facilities belonging to the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in the enclave.
Schools in the southern parts of the country, including Sderot and Ashkelon cities, have been closed over the increased tensions, while all mass events in the area have been halted. Rail service between Ashkelon and Beersheba was suspended.
Israel has been a constant target of rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The Islamist movement is listed as a terrorist organization in a number of countries, including the United States and Israel.
