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Netanyahu: Hamas will pay for decision to continue escalation

Prime minister warns Israel 'will continue striking Hamas'; Peres says Gaza rocket fire presents 'a moral problem.'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before a Security Cabinet meeting on Tuesday saying that, "Hamas will pay the price for the decision to continue the escalation."

 

 

"We will continue striking Hamas until we bring the quiet back to Israeli civilians," continued the prime minister.

 

His comments came just moments after the first Israeli death was confirmed in the recent military conflict with Gaza. The man was critically injured by mortar fire at the Erez border crossing with Gaza and immediately evacuated to a nearby hospital in Ashkelon.

 

Police confirmed that he had passed away before reaching the hospital, and that attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

 

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon also spoke before the Security Cabinet meeting due to take place at 9pm saying, "We are determined to continue action. We won't compromise on the security of the country."

 

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz then took the stage and said that, "The achievements of the attacks in Gaza are many."

 

Meanwhile, Israeli President Shimon Peres said the killing of civilians by Israeli air raids on Gaza presents a moral dilemma, but argues there is scant alternative as long as the Islamic militants who rule the coastal strip refuse to stop firing rockets at much of Israel.

 

"There is a moral problem, but I don't have a moral answer to it," the Nobel laureate said Tuesday in an interview with the Associated Press. "If they are shooting at us, and don't let our mothers and their children to have a full night's sleep, what can we do?"

 

Peres also predicted Gaza's Hamas rulers will eventually accept a cease-fire and bemoaned the state of the surrounding Arab world, beset by "terrorists who are destroying nation after nation without a vision."

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.15.14, 20:24
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