Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in his opening remarks to the weekly cabinet meeting in response to al-Arouri’s threat of an “all out” war.
In response, the prime minister remarked that al-Arouri “knows well why he and his friends are in hideouts.
“I have heard the remarks of senior Hamas official al-Arouri from his hideout in Lebanon. He knows very well why he and his friends are in hideouts,” Netanyahu said.
“Hamas and the rest of Iran’s proxies know very well that we will fight with all means against their efforts to cause terror — in Judea and Samaria, Gaza and anywhere else. Anyone who tries to harm us – whoever finances, whoever organizes, whoever sends terrorists against Israel — will pay the full price,” the prime minister warned.
“I would also like to appeal to the citizens of Israel: We are facing waves of terrorism both from within and without. These are not easy days; these are challenging days,” he said.
“We need to unite forces against terrorism, against crime in Arab society, against the external and internal threats that Iran organizes, to a large extent through its proxies. Stand together, and we will be able meet this challenge.”
Al-Arouri claimed in an interview on Friday with the Hezbollah-linked Al Mayadeen news outlet that Israel’s security cabinet decided last week to resume targeted assassinations of terrorist leaders, and warned the move would lead to war.
The leaders of the occupation government, with their extremist policies, will cause an all-out war in the region. Some in the cabinet are considering actions such as taking control of Al-Aqsa Mosque [on the Temple Mount] and dividing it, along with assassinations, knowing that this would lead to a regional war,” al-Arouri told the Lebanese news outlet.
“If we reach the point of an all-out confrontation, Israel will face an unprecedented defeat in its history, and we are confident of that,” he added, claiming that Hamas is “preparing for an all-out war, and we are closely discussing the prospects of this war with all relevant parties.
“An all-out war will be a defeat for Israel,” al-Arouri claimed.
