Naftali Bennett
Naftali BennettYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

Jewish Home chief and Education Minister Naftali Bennett defended the killing of Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorists during an operation Monday to destroy a terror tunnel extending from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory.

At least seven terrorists were killed when the IDF Southern Command destroyed a network of terror tunnels found near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Monday afternoon.

“The IDF succeeded yesterday in eliminating terrorists involved in digging tunnels to be used [in operations] to kill Israeli women and children,” Bennett said on Monday. “We must not apologize for eliminating terrorists.”

Earlier, an IDF spokesperson had issued a statement ‘clarifying’ that Israel had not intended to kill the terrorists, but was merely seeking to remove the threat posed by the terror tunnel.

“This was a defensive action against a violation of [Israeli] sovereignty. The explosion was meant to destroy [the tunnel] and put it out of operation.”

Bennett appeared to rebuke the spokesperson for the tone of the response, arguing that Israel has every right to eliminate terrorists threatening its civilians and soldiers.

“I’ll remind anyone who needs to be reminded that the tunnel was blown up inside of Israeli territory, and its purpose was to murder Israelis. "As a member of the cabinet, who since Operation Protective Edge [in 2014] has been leading the struggle to thwart the tunnel threat, I fully support this successful operation. The IDF’s goal is to prevent [attacks] and to strive for victory.”