Israel to hit back harder against terrorist aggression, Netanyahu vows

The new paradigm is intended to send a clear message to Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran that Jerusalem will not stand idly by when it is attacked.

By JNS

Israel will respond with greater force to Palestinian terrorism emanating from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of the Security Cabinet recently.

Netanyahu instructed the relevant security authorities to prepare for the policy shift beginning after Israel marks its 75th Independence Day on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The premier told officials not to comment on the prospective counterterrorism measures, which are intended to send a clear message to Hamas, Hezbollah and their patron Iran that Jerusalem will not stand idly by when it is attacked, and to restore deterrence against the country’s enemies.

Last week, the Israel Defense Forces struck assets belonging to Hezbollah, firing artillery at targets in Quneitra in the Syrian-held part of the Golan Heights.  Earlier this month, the military hit targets in Syria in response to six rockets fired towards the Jewish state. Among the targets were a military compound of the Fourth Division of the Syrian Armed Forces, military radar systems and artillery posts.

The IDF regularly conducts airstrikes in Syria with a view to preventing Iran and its terror proxies, foremost among them the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, from developing permanent military infrastructure with which to open a front against the Jewish state.

Early this month, terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired 44 projectiles at Israel, prompting the IDF to strike more than 10 Hamas targets in the Palestinian enclave, including weapons manufacturing sites and attack tunnels. The military also struck Hamas assets in southern Lebanon after Hamas fired 34 rockets from the Hezbollah-controlled country towards northern Israel.

Palestinian and Arab Israeli terrorists have also perpetrated several deadly attacks since the beginning of this year.