Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip will have to pay dearly for the rocket attacks on Israel.
Netanyahu promised a powerful response on Tuesday after Hamas fired seven rockets at Jerusalem.
Israel has since carried out a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which according to the Palestinian Authority has claimed 28 lives, ten of them children.
Three Israelis have been killed and many wounded in new rocket attacks by the Palestinian enclave, and on Tuesday night Netanyahu announced new attacks on the Gaza Strip.
– Hamas and Islamic Holy War (Jihad) have paid – and will have to pay – a high price for their aggression. It will take time, but we will restore security for the citizens of Israel, he said in a televised speech on Tuesday night.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz followed up and promised that the Israeli attacks so far “are just the beginning” of what lies ahead.
“There are many targets in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
The political leader of the Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, did not seem intimidated by the statements made by Netanyahu and Gantz.
– If Israel wants escalation, then we are ready. If they want to end this, then we are ready for that too, Haniyeh says in a TV speech.
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