Israel appears to be edging closer to a serious conflict — if not all-out war — with Gaza’s ruling Hamas terror organization, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held another security situation assessment Tuesday in southern Israel at IDF Gaza Division headquarters.
Top brass who were present at the briefing included Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, ISA Director Nadav Argaman, National Security Council Director Meir Ben-Shabbat and other senior officials.
“Today is the fourth anniversary of when the late Hadar Goldin fell in action,” Netanyahu observed. “We are committed to bringing him and Oron Shaul, and the two civilians, back to the State of Israel.”
One day earlier, Netanyahu traveled with defense officials to the city of Sderot, barely a kilometer from the Gaza border, where he toured a kindergarten and met with the heads of regional council districts in the area.
“I saw the iron wall of their civilian determination… and today I saw our military iron wall,” he said.
“We are in a campaign that entails an exchange of blows and I can tell you that the IDF is ready for any scenario,” Netanyahu told reporters.
“I was very impressed by what I saw here and I know that like me, every Israeli citizen believes in the IDF and gives it their backing ahead of any possible development.”
In response to the question, ”Do you [plural] believe that it is possible to resolve the crisis without an extensive campaign?” The prime minister replied, “I believe that we are doing the right things. It would be worthwhile [for Hamas] to pay attention, not only to what we are saying, but to what we are doing.”