Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan (Jewish Home) stated Thursday that Israel would not tolerate rocket attacks from Gaza.
“We will not allow our citizens to be put in harm's way,” Ben-Dahan stressed. “We will respond to every provocation with determination and intelligence.”
“Red Alert” sirens were heard on Wednesday at around 11:00 p.m. (local time) in several communities in southern Israel, among them the Ashkelon and Netivot areas.
Two rockets from Gaza exploded in the Sdot Negev region. There were no physical injuries or damages.
“There are groups in Gaza that seek to challenge Hamas for control of the area,” said Ben-Dahan. “They do this by firing rockets at Israel.
"We will not tolerate even one rocket. Thus, Wednesday night, we attacked terror targets in Gaza, as we always do after such attacks on us. We see Hamas as the responsible party for what happens in Gaza,” he added.
Speaking earlier, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that “even if the groups that fired rockets at Israel Wednesday night were gangs of disaffected jihadists seeking to challenge Hamas by attacking us, we see Hamas as responsible for these attacks."
"We will not tolerate attacks on our civilians," Ya'alon vowed.
A group called the “Sheikh Amar Hadid Brigades” claimed responsibility on Thursday for the rocket fire on Wednesday, asserting it would "continue in the way of jihad against the Jews, the enemies of Allah."