Netanyahu threatens to escalate military attacks on Gaza

Netanyahu threatens to escalate military attacks on Gaza

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas is responsible for any attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, adding that his government will take all necessary precautions to “defend” Israel.

Netanyahu, speaking prior to the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, said that the world community should also share the same view.

For his part, Sylvan Shalom, the first deputy premier, said that Hamas would regret resumption of firing rockets at Israeli settlements.

He said that his government would not allow a return to the situation when rockets were fired every now and then on southern settlements, adding that resumption of firing rockets would be met with a “firm response”.
 
For his part, Dr. Salah Bardawil, a Hamas MP, told a press conference in Gaza on Sunday that Netanyahu’s statement poses as a clear threat to the Palestinian people and prepares for new massacres, asking the Arab countries and the international community to deter the ceaseless Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

He said that Hamas would exert all efforts possible to avoid a new war on Gaza but would also defend it in the event of any such attack.

Bardawil said that the Israeli claim regarding the firing of rockets from Gaza should be scrutinized, adding that the Israeli military escalation is one-sided.

He charged Israel with trying to mix up the cards in a bid to evade the world’s growing demands for an end to the siege on Gaza.