With Israel expecting more attacks in the coming weeks and possibly months, Tel Aviv threatened Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip that they would suffer “a lot of pain” if they decided to escalate.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pledged to break what he called “a wave of Palestinian terrorist operations,” and revealed that Israel was at the highest state of alert since the second intifada about two decades ago.
Bennett promised an “invasion” of social networking sites, in search of Palestinians who hint that they intend to carry out “jihadist operations.”
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that he expects “more attacks to occur.”
He predicted that the assaults would take place in the West Bank or Jerusalem, and even in the heart of Israeli cities.
The defense minister’s remarks were made during a field tour of his forces deployed on the border between the West Bank and Israel.
When asked if there were other operations on the way, Gantz said: “Yes, that could happen.”
“There is certainly a desire by extremist individuals to carry out attacks, and such a possibility could occur; But there is currently no public wave or regulatory action.”
“Hamas doesn't want escalation. We're assuming there could be escalation, but the residents in Gaza - including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad - need to choose what kind of Ramadan they want," he said referring to the holy Muslim month that kicked off on Saturday.
“They [Hamas] want terror activity in the West Bank. If there will be action against Israel from the Strip, Gaza will feel the kind of pain that I suggest it spares from itself,” said Gantz.
“They're familiar with our abilities, with all our resources, if they release the gunlock- we'll come crashing down on them,” he added.
As for the West Bank, Gantz said that his ministry has allocated a billion shekels as part of a construction plan to fix holes in the security fence.
Meanwhile, Palestinian factions vowed "stronger resistance" and said Israel would pay the price for their recent assassination of 3 “Islamic Jihad” members in the West Bank.
