Defense Minister Natalia Bennett (Flash90/Yonatan Sindel)
“You were, and remain, in our cross-hairs,” Bennett said on Wednesday.
By World Israel News Staff
Newly appointed Defense Minister Naftali Bennett issued a strong warning to Hamas and Islamic Jihad after hundreds of rockets were fired at Israel on Tuesday.
“This morning we send a clear message to all our enemies, on all fronts: He who plans to harm us today, will never be safe during the night. You were, and remain, in our cross-hairs,” Bennett said on Wednesday.
“IDF commanders, among them the chief of staff, alongside the heads of the security establishment, are doing everything within their power to make sure all of us can continue to sleep in safety,” he added.
On Tuesday, Bennett ordered a 48-hour special security measure to be placed on all communities within 50 miles of Gaza. Within that radius lies Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Raanana.
Earlier during the day, Israel assassinated Gaza’s Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu Al Ata by bombing his house.
In response, close to 200 rockets had been launched at southern and central Israel from Gaza. Only 60 of those rockets were reportedly intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. On Wednesday, more rockets rained down on the southern city of Netivot.
No injuries were reported in that attack.
IDF fighter jets and aircraft retaliated by striking a number of terror targets linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
Among the sites were a training compound and underground weapons manufacturing and storage sites. In one successful effort to eliminate an immediate threat, the Israeli Air Force struck two Islamic Jihad terrorists as they were about to launch rockets into Israel.
Bennett accepted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer of becoming the country’s new defense minister on Friday, and officially assumed the role on Tuesday after Netanyahu’s cabinet approved the decision.
Bennett agreed to Netanyahu’s terms that if a new unity government is formed, he would be prepared to vacate the position, but if the country goes to an unprecedented third round of elections then he will stay on at least until the results of the election are revealed,
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