Netanyahu promises ‘painful’ end to Hamas terror

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government is very close “to activities of a different sort — activities that include extremely powerful blows.” 

by David Isaac, World Israel News

“Hamas apparently hasn’t internalized the message,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday.  “If they don’t cease the violent protests against us, they will cease in another way and it will be painful, very painful.”

The prime minister said the government is very close “to activities of a different sort — activities that include extremely intense blows.”

“If it has any sense, Hamas will cease fire and its violent demonstrations now,” he added.

Netanyahu’s words were given added force by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who in an interview this morning with Ynet news said,  “We have arrived at the point where we have to land as strong as possible a blow on Hamas.”

“Hamas has turned violence on the border into a strategic weapon and by doing so they hope to erode our steadfastness, to erode our deterrence … They want to put pressure on the Israeli public and on the government of Israel,” Lieberman added.

Since March 30, Hamas, the terrorist organization which controls the Gaza Strip, has waged a violent campaign of mass riots on Israel’s border, including infiltrations into Israeli territory and the launching of fire kites and balloon bombs in a new form of “arson terror.”