Jerusalem – Netanyahu Says IDF Operation Against Hamas ‘May Take Time’, Orders Significant Expansion Of Military Action

Jerusalem – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appealed Tuesday night for the country to have patience, saying that the operation that began earlier in the day against Hamas “may take time.”

“From the perspective of the terrorist organizations, all of Israel is part of one front, and all Israeli citizens are targets,” he said in a recorded video statement. “Therefore we must stand together as one — united and sure of the justice of our cause. We are acting with determination and assertively to return the quiet, and we will continue to do so until the quiet is restored, so that our citizens and children can live in security.”

Saying Israel was in the midst of a campaign to return security to its citizens, Netanyahu said “we will not suffer the firing of rockets on our cities and communities, and therefore I directed a significant expansion of IDF action against Hamas terrorists and the terrorists from other organizations in Gaza.”.

Netanyahu said that he decided on this step only after all other efforts to restore the quiet were ignored, and Hamas opted for escalation.

“We are not eager for battle,” he said,”but the security of our citizens and children takes precedence over all else.”

He stressed that the IDF’s actions were aimed at Hamas, and not at innocent citizens. On the contrary, he said, Hamas is intentionally hiding behind Palestinian civilians, and will be responsible if they are accidentally harmed.

Netanyahu warned that the ongoing Operation Protective Edge might not be resolved immediately.

Also on Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz that Hamas chose an escalation with Israel and that other terror organizations have joined it. “We will now activate all of our force and take all the time that it’s needed in various stages in order to reach victory,” Gantz said.

“There may be surprises; there must be rocket fire here or a terror attack and difficulties there. We must be prepared for all possibilities,” Gantz warned. “We must not move in our chair if one of these things happens. We must continue the mission, for as long as necessary… the public is resilient and stable. It trusts the military and expects it to act,” the chief of staff added.

“We will accomplish goals against Hamas, hurt it badly, remove its capabilities, defend our civilians and our country, and we will exact from the full price of the strategic mistake that it has made,” Gantz added.