Israeli threats escalate against Hamas
Israeli officials have recently increased their threat of a wide-scale military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, prompting the movement to take precautionary measures.
Israel issued in February a series of threats against Hamas in the Gaza Strip that would include a harsh military operation. Although Hamas has repeatedly heard such statements in the past, the recent threats include new and recurring terms such as “sudden operation” and “hot spring.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened March 1 in an interview on Channel 12 to launch a sudden operation on Gaza. He said, “We will not hasten to a war, but we have surprises in store — like toppling Hamas.”
On Feb. 14, Netanyahu said during his visit to Ariel settlement in the central West Bank, “God help the Palestinian factions if we choose to fight them. We will adopt new and surprising unprecedented measures, and the operation will not last one or two days.”
In an interview with the Israeli Army Radio Feb. 18, Netanyahu said that Hamas has two choices: “complete calm or a blow beyond its imagination.”
