Israel Threatens to Launch ‘Major Military Operation’ on Gaza After Spike in Tensions
- Israel Threatens to Launch ‘Major Military Operation’ on Gaza After Spike in Tensions
by https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english
A senior Israeli minister said a “big army operation” on the besieged Gaza Strip may be necessary following rocket strikes between the two sides over the weekend. Israeli Energy Minister and security cabinet member Yuval Steinitz said on Sunday that such a military operation would precede Israel reaching of an agreement, Haaretz reported.
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“We hoped to reach an agreement before a large military operation, and as it seems right now, we may have to set out on a big army operation and only then reach an agreement,” Steinitz said in a radio interview.
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“If there is no choice and we want to destroy the Hamas regime, it will have to be a ground operation, and this comes at a price,” he said.
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Steinitz’s comments followed Israel carrying out retaliatory strikes on Gaza on Saturday, killing a Palestinian and wounding two others, following two nights of rocket attacks that were the first since September. Hamas, the Islamist group who runs Gaza, denounced a “serious escalation” and said Israel will be held “responsible for the consequences” of the raids.
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Dozens of pre-dawn strikes targeted Hamas bases and those of allied militant groups, a Gaza security source said. The Israeli army said the strikes targeted “a wide range of Hamas terror targets”, including a naval base, a military compound and a weapons manufacturing plant. The Hamas-run health ministry identified the person killed as Ahmed al-Shehri, 27. It did not say whether he was affiliated with any armed group. Two other Palestinians were seriously wounded, the ministry said.
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Hundreds of Palestinians attended Shehri’s funeral on Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip, an AFP correspondent said. A Hamas source said it had fired at the Israeli aircraft carrying out the raids and the Israeli military confirmed fresh “incoming fire”. “The Zionist enemy bears full responsibility for the consequences,” of the pre-dawn air raids, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement. He said the strikes targeted “innocent civilians” and represented a “serious escalation”.
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9 … I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a [a]synagogue of Satan.