Israel is prepared to significantly escalate its military operation
against Palestinian militants in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
said Sunday.
The comments come on the
heels of reports that the Israel Defense Forces have widened the scope
of their effort to stop rocket attacks from Gaza, targeting Palestinian
media organizations, government buildings and the homes of Hamas
officials in Gaza.
"We are exacting a heavy
price from
Hamas and the (other) terrorist organizations, and IDF is
prepared for a significant expansion of its operations," Netanyahu told
reporters shortly before the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting in
Jerusalem.
Since Israel launched
its offensive on Wednesday against what it says are "terrorist sites" in
response to persistent rocket attacks that have plagued portion of
southern Israel for months, 57 Palestinians have been killed, according
to a spokesman for the ministry of health in Gaza. They include 15
children, seven women, and five elderly people, the spokesman said. More
than 560 people were injured, he said.
The spokesman did not say how many militants have been killed.
A Palestinian girl and a
man were killed Sunday in an airstrike that targeted the town of
al-Shati in western Gaza, Hamas-run al-Aqsa TV reported.
The United States and
several European countries have put the brunt of the blame for the
current crisis on Hamas, saying Israel has a right to protect itself.
Arab and Muslim nations, meanwhile, have accused Israel of being the
aggressor.
Rocket attacks into
Israel were the "precipitating event" for the fighting under way now,
U.S. President Barack Obama said during a stop in Thailand Sunday. "We
are actively working with all the parties in the region to see if we can
end those missiles being fired without further escalation of violence
in the region."
Over the last four days,
militants in Gaza have fired 846 rockets at Israel -- 302 of which were
intercepted by Israe's Iron Dome defense system, according to the IDF.
Nearly 100 rockets fired from Gaza over the same time frame crashed back
into the strip.
No comments:
Post a Comment