PM Orders IDF To 'Respond With Force' To Renewed Rocket Fire

After 2.5 hours of sustained rocket fire from Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon issue orders to the IDF to “respond with force.” The Israeli delegation to the ceasefire talks in Cairo has left the city, Channel 2’s Yaron Schneider reports. It was the third visit of the Israeli delegation in less than a week. On Friday morning, Hamas announced it would not extend the 72-hour ceasefire that ended earlier today. Dozens of rockets have fallen on Israeli towns since the ceasefire ended at 8 a.m. local time.  The IDF says it has “targeted terror sites across the Gaza Strip” in the wake of renewed rocket fire from Gaza. An IDF press release reads: The IDF remains alert and maintains a high level of preparedness with both defensive capabilities, and striking capabilities in order to address the renewed aggression.  The IDF is determined to defend the civilians of the State of Israel. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, IDF Spokesman: “The renewed rocket attacks by terrorists at Israel are unacceptable, intolerable and shortsighted. Hamas’ bad decision to breach the ceasefire will be pursued by the IDF, we will continue to strike Hamas, its infrastructure, its operatives and restore security for the State of Israel.” Former Shin Bet director Avi Dichter calls to forcibly demilitarize the entire Gaza Strip. “Today, 69 years ago exactly, the American leadership understood that there is no other way to end the bloody war against Japan, but with one action: dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima,” Dichter writes on his Facebook page. No, there was no phone call made in advance to the residents of the city warning them about the imminent catastrophe,” he continues. Hamas is not the Japanese army and Israel is not the United States. Nevertheless, we should learn something from the process that the United States and Japan went through during that war…  Hamas in the Gaza Strip is dragging its residents to the same depths the Japanese government dragged millions of its citizens. Unlike the United States, which fought far away from home, the IDF is fighting Hamas and Jihad terrorism in Gaza, as the fighting can be seen outside the windows of Nahal Oz and Nirim. Our soldiers are fighting for our home as members of their family watch the battle. There is no war as just as our war with Hamas in Gaza these days. The Ceasefire must yield, aside for quiet, a demilitarization of Gaza from weapons, as was agreed upon by Palestinians in a peace agreement signed in Washington and Cairo.” Dichter says expecting Hamas to agree to such steps is “delusional,” and so international forces must step in and enforce the demilitarization process. “Egypt is the currently the country which has the most effective leverage on Hamas in Gaza, it has a key role in promoting Israeli demands to dismantle the terror infrastructure in Gaza,” Dichter adds. “This cancerous Hamas growth must be taken out, whether by an Egyptian political surgeon or by an Israeli military analyst,” he concludes. Source: Times of Israel