WarSclerotic

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday threatened the Gaza Strip after an escalation of violence on the border, saying that Israel was ready for all possible scenarios.

“Maybe there is someone in Gaza who thinks they can raise their head, but I suggest they understand that the response will be serious and very painful. We are prepared for every scenario and every escalation,” he told soldiers during a visit to the Shizafon army base in the south of the country.

Netanyahu, who also serves as defense minister, also threatened Iran and vowed to fight the country’s forces in Syria.

“Iran is the main enemy, and has declared its intention to destroy us with nuclear weapons, which we are committed to thwarting,” he said. “But Iran is also building forces around us, and they have established a front in Lebanon through Hezbollah, and they have established a southern fortress in Gaza, which is maintained by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

“And now they wish to build a third fortress in the Golan Heights, based on the establishment of the Iranian military. We are committed to fighting all these things and to fighting the Iranian army in Syria.”

On Sunday, Israel reportedly conducted a rare daylight missile attack on Iranian targets in Syria. In response, Iran fired a surface-to-surface missile at the northern Golan Heights, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system over the Hermon ski resort, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

An explosion, reportedly during Israeli airstrikes near Damascus, Syria, on January 21, 2019. (screen capture: YouTube)

Netanyahu’s speech also came after the Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes against multiple Hamas targets in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, following two border clashes earlier in the day, including one in which a sniper shot an IDF officer in his helmet, causing light injuries, the army said.

The IDF said the raids targeted “a number of terror targets in a military base belonging to the Hamas terror group in the northern Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli military did not indicate who it believed fired the shots, but said it held Hamas responsible for the violence along the border on Tuesday, as the terror group has ruled Gaza since taking control of the enclave in 2007 by ousting the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

“The IDF is prepared and ready to act against any terrorist action from the Gaza Strip and is determined to defend the citizens of the State of Israel,” the army said in a statement.

Hamas accused Israel of escalating the situation, saying it was “fully responsible” for the uptick in violence.

“The valiant resistance will not allow our people’s blood to be used as fuel for Israeli election campaigns, and it possesses the will and means to safeguard our great people’s blood and interests,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, referring to the Knesset elections in April.