Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Tuesday said Israel’s goal with its ongoing strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from the enclave is to severely weaken the Hamas terror group and restore calm to southern Israel.
Gantz said the operation, dubbed Guardian of the Walls, was likely to last at least several days as Israeli aircraft, ground forces and naval ships bombed assets and operatives of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“The purpose of the operation is to strike Hamas hard, to weaken it and to make it regret its decision [to launch rockets at Israel],” Gantz said, speaking to reporters next to an Iron Dome missile defense battery in southern Israel.
“Every bomb has an address. We will continue this in both the coming hours and the coming days. It’s hard to estimate how long it will take,” he said.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman said the military was launching a major offensive against the Hamas terror group’s rocket launching capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip, with some 80 fighter jets, including the advanced F-35 aircraft, taking part in the operation.
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