Hours after Israel launched targeted airstrikes against terrorists in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing three senior commanders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in their homes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a prime-time television address to the nation, saying Operation Shield and Arrow could last for a while.
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Netanyahu said the country would need to be patient in the coming days and that he had instructed the army "to prepare for every possible scenario of escalation," including the likelihood that this could be on multiple fronts. "Tonight I say to our enemies, every escalation by you will be answered with an overwhelming response," he said.
"In the coming days we will all be required to show patience and resolve," Netanyahu said in the press conference alongside Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and Shin Bet security agency director Ronen Bar.
PM Netanyahu:
"Israel will do whatever it has to do to protect our state and to protect our people.Israel's policy is clear and our message to the terrorists is also clear:
You can run. You can hide.
But in the end, Israel will get you." pic.twitter.com/uVQwxz0bTq— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 9, 2023
In anticipation of rocket fire, the Israeli military advised residents of communities within 25 miles (40 kilometers) of Gaza to stay close to designated bomb shelters. The IDF Homefront Command ordered the closure of schools, beaches, and highways in cities and towns in southern Israel, and limited public gatherings. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant approved the call-up of reserves.
The Israeli military said that the three terrorists it targeted had been responsible for a recent rocket fire toward Israel. It identified them as Khalil Bahtini, the PIJ commander for the northern Gaza Strip; Tareq Izzeldeen, the group's intermediary between its Gaza and West Bank members; and Jehad Ghanam, the secretary of the PIJ military council.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, Israel's chief military spokesman, described the three terrorists as "a source of instability." He alleged that Izzeldeen, for instance, had been trying to establish a rocket-manufacturing operation in the West Bank.
The attacks set the stage for what is likely to be a new round of fighting a week after an exchange of fire between Israel and the PIJ. Tuesday's airstrikes targeted an apartment and house in Gaza City and a third house in the southern town of Rafah. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 20 people were wounded.
Israel also targeted Islamic Jihad training sites before the airstrikes halted at daybreak. After an hourslong lull, the military said it struck a vehicle carrying anti-tank guided missiles to a launchpad in the enclave's southern city of Khan Younis. Two people were killed in that attack, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, without providing their identities. No group immediately claimed the two as members.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the 13 killed in the predawn strikes included four women and four children. That included Bahtini's wife and 4-year-old daughter and Izzeldeen's two young children. In the southern city of Rafah, Ghanam and his 62-year-old wife were killed in their home, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza. Hagari expressed regret over the civilian casualties but said they were impossible to avoid because PIJ operates inside residential areas.
From Israel's perspective, Hagari added, the operation was over. But he said it would react to further attacks by Islamic Jihad or any other group. "We have achieved our goals," he said. "Now the ball is on the other side."
PIJ bombarded Israel with over 100 rockets last week after one of its senior members in the West Bank died from an 87-day hunger strike while in Israeli custody. The Israeli military responded with airstrikes and the exchange of fire ended with a fragile cease-fire.
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