JERUSALEM (EJP)—The Israeli Air Force (IAF) targeted 29 terror sites in the Gaza Strip in response to the barrage of rocket attack that hit southern Israel Wednesday evening.
‘’This retaliation was precise and prompt. We targeted the infrastructure that serves the terrorists while they train, plan and implement their hideous attacks. They will not be permitted to conspire in the safety of their terrorist temples,’’ said Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman.
‘’Direct hits were confirmed,’’ the IDF said.
In total, the Israeli army said,41 rockets struck in Israel, 5 hit populated areas and 3 were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system.
It is the most important rocket attack from the Gaza Strip since ‘Operation Pillar of Defense’ in November 2012.
Since the start of 2014, Gaza terrorists have fired more than 80 rockets at Israel.
The IDF said the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group is behind the rocket attack.
‘’However, Hamas is responsible for all attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip. The IDF will do everything in its power to fight Gaza terrorism and protect the people of Israel,’’ the IDF spokesman stressed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu on Wednesday night held security consultation following his meeting with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron. Participating in the telephone consultation were Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, IDF Deputy Chief-of-Staff Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot and Israel Security Agency (Mossad) Director Yoram Cohen.
The Prime Minister directed all necessary action be taken in order to restore quiet in the south, his media advisor said .
Earlier, at the start of a press conference with David Cameron, Netanyahu said: “The IDF is responding forcefully to the firing against the citizens of Israel by the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip If there is no calm in the south, there will be no calm in Gaza, and that’s putting it mildly. I call upon the residents of the south to follow the instructions. The IDF will do the job.”
‘’What we’re seeing today is Iranian backed terror groups supplied by Iran with rockets firing at innocent civilians. This is something that no country could tolerate and I think it highlights two things. First, if we’re to have a genuine peace, this cannot recur. We must have a peace in which territories adjacent to Israel are not used as launching grounds for rockets and missiles against the Jewish state. Secondly, we must make sure that the backer of these terrorists, Iran, doesn’t have nuclear weapons and nuclear tipped missiles.‘’
During the press conference, Cameron condemned ‘’unreservedly’’ the attacks from Gaza. ‘’These are indiscriminate attacks aimed at population centers and that tells you everything about the despicable and wicked people carrying out these acts,’’ he said.
‘’ We condemn them utterly. They do, as you’ve said, underline the importance of guaranteeing Israel’s security, and any two-state solution has to have at its heart the guarantee of Israel’s’ safety and security and the security of your people,’’ he added.
He said that the international community should say with one voice that ‘’Palestinian statehood can only come about through dialogue and discussion. It can never come about through violence or terror, which we will always condemn. ‘’