Israel Strikes Hamas Terrorist Targets in Gaza After First Rocket in Months
The Israeli military hit terror targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to a missile fired from the coastal enclave, which broke a four month lull in rocket fire.
Israeli media reports said the rocket was launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terror group in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted the projectile before it could do any damage.
On Tuesday, leader of the opposition and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to Twitter to rebuke the current government over the rocket fire.
“We must establish a strong, right-wing government that will restore peace and security for Israel’s citizens,” he said.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett snapped back: “Mr. Netanyahu, on your watch, terrorists launched 13,000 (!) rockets toward the residents of southern Israel, carried out 1,500 terrorist attacks, burned down 45,000 dunams [11,120 acres] of our lands, killed 238 Israelis and injured 1,700 others,” Bennett said, according to the Times of Israel.
“And what do you do? You transfer suitcases full of dollars to Hamas,” he added, referring to the hundreds of millions of Qatari dollars sent to Gaza since 2018.
“Your legacy: Hamas rockets targeting Jerusalem, lynches in Acre and Lod. Israel in flames. You failed against Hamas. We’re fixing the situation,” Bennett went on, referencing the violence in mixed Arab Jewish cities during the conflict with Hamas last May.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem downplayed Israel’s strikes on Tuesday.”
The Zionist bombing of some empty sites [is] a failed attempt to prevent our Palestinian people from defending the city of Jerusalem,” he said.
