Israeli PM defends Gaza ground operation
"The operation came after Israel agreed to the Egyptian and UN proposed ceasefires," Netanyahu told reporters ahead of a security cabinet meeting.
JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday defended his government decision to launch a ground assault into the Gaza Strip.
"The operation came after Israel agreed to the Egyptian and UN proposed ceasefires," Netanyahu told reporters ahead of a security cabinet meeting.
"In both cases Hamas continued to shoot, and in light of that we chose to begin the operation after exhausting all other options, understanding the without expanding the operation, the price we will pay will be higher," he said.
On Thursday, Netanyahu ordered the Israeli army to launch a ground assault on the Gaza Strip, following 11 days of air and naval bombardment.
The assault came hours after both Israel and Palestinian factions held a five-hour ceasefire as requested by the United Nations to help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to stock up on food.
At least 260 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1970 injured since Israeli attacks began in the blockaded Palestinian territory on July 7. One Israel has been killed.
On Monday, Egypt proposed a ceasefire between Gaza-based Palestinian factions and Israel.
While Israel initially accepted the Egyptian proposal, Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said that the plan does not meet "conditions of the resistance".
Netanyahu said the Israeli army was instructed to prepare to widen its ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
"My instructions ... are to prepare for the possibility of significantly widening the ground operation, and the military is preparing accordingly," he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, for his part, warned that Hamas will pay a heavier price than we have exacted so far".
"We will not compromise the security of Israeli citizens or tolerate rocket firing on residents of the South," Ya’alon said.
Israeli Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that he supports the expansion of the Gaza ground operation.
"I think that the decision to extend the operation of the IDF in Gaza was the right decision," he said.
The ongoing operation, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is Israel's third major offensive against the embattled Gaza Strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – in the last six years.
Israel's Netanyahu killing Gaza children: Hamas
Palestinian resistance faction Hamas on Friday accused Israel of intentionally targeting children during its ongoing military onslaught on the blockaded Gaza Strip, now in its second week.
"[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is murdering Gaza's children," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri asserted in a statement.
He pledged that the Israeli premier would pay a "heavy price" for killing Palestinian children in the embattled coastal territory.
Earlier Friday, three Palestinian children were killed when their residential building in the northern Gaza Strip was struck by Israeli artillery fire.
Since July 7, when Israel's offensive against the strip began, at least 264 Palestinians – mostly civilians – have been killed in relentless air, naval and ground attacks.
Fifty-eight children and 28 women have been among those slain.
On Thursday night, the Israeli army began ground operations, sending troops into the Palestinian territory.
In recent days, thousands of Israeli troops had been called up and amassed on the strip's borders in advance of an anticipated ground assault.
Israel's ongoing offensive, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major assault on the embattled Gaza Strip – home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – in the last six years.
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