JERUSALEM, May 7 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the two-day bloody campaign in the Gaza Strip is not over and Israel is “prepared to continue.”
Speaking after a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was reportedly achieve, Netanyahu said “the campaign is not over.”
He said, the fighting “demands patience and sagacity” and Israel is “prepared to continue.”
According to Netanyahu, the goal is to “ensure quiet and security for the residents of the south.”
He said that since the weekend, Israel has struck 350 targets related to Hamas and Islamic Jihad group.
“We struck at terrorist leaders and operatives and we destroyed terrorist buildings,” he said, amidst criticism by his far-right coalition partners and position members, who urged harsher strikes in Gaza.
Earlier on Monday, Al-Aqsa TV, an official Hamas-run channel, reported that a cease-fire agreement between the armed groups in the Gaza Strip and Israel went into effect before dawn.
The deal was brokered by Egyptian, Qatari, and United Nations officials, according to Israeli media.
Later, the Israeli army said it had lifted all protective restrictions on citizens in southern Israel.
The agreement appeared to have ended the most serious fighting between Israel and Gaza since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in 2014.
At the same time, the Israeli air force carried out massive air strikes in Gaza, bombing buildings and militant targets throughout the besieged Palestinian enclave.
At least 27 Palestinians were killed, including two pregnant women and two babies and at least nine militants, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.– NNN-MA’AN
