Israeli Security Minister: Major Gaza operation to topple Hamas ‘very likely’

The Strategic Affairs minister said Thursday that an extensive military operation in Gaza aimed at toppling Hamas could be launched.

By: World Israel News Staff   

Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan told Army Radio Thursday that a major military operation in Gaza in “the next few months” with the goal of toppling Hamas is a possibility.

Asked if Israel is on the verge of a full-scale military operation in Gaza, Erdan replied in the affirmative:

“Yes, there is a very good chance after what we have experienced in the last four weeks. We might have to, in order to return the peace and the deterrence. It would also be a move that shows Hamas has to be taken down. In the coming months we will have to enter into a major military operation in Gaza.”

“It’s not something we want, but we might have no choice,” he said.

There was a marked escalation this week in Gaza with terrorists firing dozens of rockets at Jewish communities in the south.

Erdan said that the “bad” nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015 enabled the Islamic Republic to provide funding to Hamas, which used the money to improve its military capabilities.

Erdan noted that Israel has been overly restrained in its response to Hamas’s use of bomb-laden kites and balloons, which have destroyed thousands of acres of farmland and nature reserves. He called on the IDF to open fire on those who set loose these kites and balloons, even if they are small children being coerced by Hamas terrorists.

Housing Minister Yoav Galant, a former IDF general, has said that “anyone who calls to open fire on children doesn’t know the limits of military power.”

Ministers and the IDF are split on how to deal with the kites and balloons.