Israel’s Minister of Defence, Yoav Gallant, expanded the country’s “special security situation” to the entirety of Israel’s territory late Saturday, according to his communications office.
This enables the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to provide security instructions to civilians and to close public sites as needed for security, the minister’s office said.
A “special security situation” area, within an 80-kilometre (48-mile) radius of the Gaza Strip, had been established earlier on Saturday.
“Today, we saw the face of evil. The Hamas (terrorist organisation) has launched a brutal attack against the citizens of the State of Israel – attacking men, women, children, and the elderly, indiscriminately,” Gallant said in a statement.
“Hamas will understand very quickly that it has made a mistake – a grave mistake and will pay a (heavy) price,” he said.
The Defence Minister’s statement comes after Gaza militants fired a fresh round of rockets on Saturday evening, making direct hits on multiple locations inside Israel, including in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli authorities.
In a Telegram post, the armed wing of Hamas — the militant group designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, European Union, and Israel — said it had fired an additional 150 rockets in response to the bombing of a residential tower in Gaza City.
In his statement, Gallant claimed he had been close to destroying Hamas 15 years ago, when he headed the military’s Southern Command, but that he was stopped by “the political echelon.”
“This phenomenon will not continue. We will change reality on the ground in Gaza for the next 50 years,” he continued. “What was before will be no more. We will operate at full force.”
“I ask Israel’s citizens to remain determined and to support our security forces,” he added.
*Culled from CNN
