Netanyahu hints at further Gaza action: Either Hamas reins in rocket fire or we will

Date: 

Monday, June 30, 2014
06/30/2014 14:20

Prime minister warns Hamas that it must stop violations of Operation Pillar of Defense de facto ceasefire or Israel will be forced to act; briefs Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense C'tee on effort to find kidnapped teens.

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, June 30, 2014 Photo: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that Israel would take action to stop rocket fire from Gaza if the quiet which followed Operation Pillar of Defense continues to be violated.

Netanyahu was speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, hours after some 15 rocketsfrom Gaza were fired at southern Israel, causing damage to a number of homes in the western Negev.

The prime minister warned Hamas that it is responsible for reining in the rocket fire. "I want to make clear that if the silence from Operation Pillar of Defense is violated and the shooting continues, their are two options: either Hamas will stop the rocket fire, or we will."

More than two weeks after three Israeli teens were kidnapped in the West Bank, Netanyahu said that Israel's "first goal was and remains to bring the boys back in peace."

Netanyahu said that he had instructed the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and IDF to use "any means" to find and bring home the kidnapped teens.

FADC chairman Ze'ev Elkin said that the committee had held a series of in depth discussions since Operation Brother's Keeper began and was seeking further clarification from Netanyahu on where the operation stands and what further steps will be taken in the future.