Top generals in the IDF are expected to push for a much stronger response to rocket fire and arson balloons from the Gaza Strip after fresh attacks in recent days, Channel 12 reported Friday.
Citing a senior military source, Channel 12’s veteran military analyst Roni Daniel said Israel was “on the verge of a serious military campaign,” and said the IDF was considering ending its policy of warning occupants of buildings ahead of airstrikes, even if it causes casualties.
“Everything is hanging by a very thin thread and the situation could change dramatically,” the source said.
However, political analysts noted that it was unlikely that the government would authorize a major military campaign ahead of the elections set for September.
The warnings come after a fresh surge in violence, including two nights of rocket attacks and retaliatory air force strikes, and a wave of arson balloons sent into Israel.
Palestinians rioting on the Gaza border Friday launched dozens of arson balloons into Israel, setting off at least 7 fires near border communities.
Several thousand Palestinians gathered along the border for weekly protests, with several hundred taking part in violent riots. Rioters threw explosive devices and rocks at troops and also tried to storm the fence in one place.
Three Palestinians briefly breached the fence in one spot before returning to Gaza, Israel Radio reported.
Troops responded with tear gas and live fire in some cases. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said 46 people were wounded.
The balloons sparked at least 7 blazes, including two large ones near Kibbutz Nahal Oz and Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Another fire raged in the Be’eri nature reserve. Firefighting teams and local residents managed to extinguish them, the fire service said.
Israeli Air Force jets carried out multiple airstrikes in the Strip early Friday, hours after a rocket hit a religious school in southern Israel. The Israeli military said in a statement that fighter jets and other aircraft attacked “several terror targets, including terror infrastructure in military compounds.”
The rocket attacks led to growing calls among politicians for a major military operation, including assassinating leaders of Hamas.
Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday fired a missile at a US drone, hours before an alleged attack by Iran against two tankers in the area.
The surface-to-air missile was fired from a boat and missed its target, a US official told CNN on Friday.
The MQ-9 drone had spotted the Iranian forces approaching the tankers, the official said. He did not say if the aircraft had seen the actual attacks take place.
The unnamed official added that an American reaper drone had been downed in the Red Sea in the days before the attack, likely by Houthi rebels equipped with an Iranian missile.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have skyrocketed following the incident.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for the sabotage,calling the country “a nation of terror” and saying the attack had “Iran written all over it.”
Calling into “Fox & Friends,” Trump said of the Thursday attacks, “Iran did do it.” He cited video purporting to show an Iranian boat removing what the US says is an unexploded mine from one of the vessels.
“You know they did it because you saw the boat,” Trump said. “I guess one of the mines didn’t explode and it’s probably got essentially Iran written all over it.”
Trump also warned Iran not to close off the strategic Strait of Hormuz, saying if it is closed it won’t be closed for long.
“They’re not going to be closing it. It’s not going to be closed, it’s not going to be closed for long and they know it. They’ve been told in very strong terms,” Trump said.
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