Netanyahu warns Hamas mulling major Gaza operation

TEL AVIV (Sputnik): Clashes on the border of Gaza with Israel have been going on since spring 2018 with the Israeli government accusing Hamas and other organisations of planning attacks on the Jewish state and of sending inflammable balloons over the border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered the possibility of a major operation in Gaza during a Cabinet meeting on 10 March, as a response to attacks coming from that region, The Jerusalem Post reported.

“We will do everything we need to bring about quiet”, he said.

While acknowledging that rogue groups had been responsible for recent launches of inflammable balloons over the Gaza border, Netanyahu held the Hamas group responsible for these incidents saying the Israeli Defence Forces will attack their targets in response. He added that the group shouldn’t “test” Tel Aviv.

“Do not test us”, the prime minister said addressing Hamas.

The Israeli Air Force struck objectives in Gaza, described as Hamas military posts, on 4 March in response to a cluster of balloons carrying an explosive device spotted flying from the Gaza Strip towards Israel.

Tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians near the Gaza border have been mounting since last March, which marked the beginning of the Great March of Return.

The clashes have taken the lives of around 200 people since then. Tel Aviv blames Hamas for the animosity of Gazans towards Israel as well as for arson balloons being launched over the Gaza border.