Major General Yoav Mordechai, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, has explained Israel's shelling of Gaza terror sites on Monday by saying, "The continuing deterioration of the quiet on the Gaza border will push Israel to respond in a determined way. Israel does not want an escalation but cannot hold back following this evening's firing [of a rocket] on Israel."
Referring to Hamas, which rules Gaza, he continued, "The terrorist organization's activity against Israel is not stopping, from shooting and continued support for terrorist operations in Judea and Samaria to low and despicable exploitation of humanitarian mediation. We reiterate and stress that any attempt to use [terror] tunnels lead to the deaths of their occupants."