Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his army minister, Naftali Bennett, on Wednesday renewed their threat to launch a military operation against the Gaza Strip if the need arises.
Netanyahu said - as quoted by the Israeli Arabic-language Makan channel - that it is inevitable to launch a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip, which is completely different from what we have seen so far.
However, he added, "This does not mean that we are advocates of war, but we will not allow the status quo to continue."
"The blow that Israel will pay, if necessary, to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, will be more severe than the liquidation of its leaders in their family, as was the case several months ago," he added.
For his part, Bennett said that Israel will launch, at appropriate times and conditions, a military campaign against Gaza.
"After the campaign, bold measures will be taken aimed at bringing calm to the entire south of the country," he added.
On criticism of the case of victimization of the body of the martyr Muhammad al-Naim and sharp criticism of what happened, Bennett said, "I will send a thousand bulldozers if necessary."
