Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel does not rule out “going all the way” against Hamas if “deterrence” fails.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahusaid on Wednesday that Gaza bombing campaign aims to deter Hamas, But did not rule out a campaign to “conquer” the terrorist group ruling the enclave.

“There are only two possibilities to face it: good to go all the way, which is still a possibility, finally deterrence, and we are currently immersed in a strong deterrent force “ the prime minister told ambassadors in Tel Aviv.

“I must say that we are not ruling out any option”added.

“What we are trying to do is precisely this: reduce their capabilities, their terrorist means and weaken their resolve.”He continued.

“I must say that we are not ruling out any option”

“We hope to be able to restore calm and we hope to be able to restore it soon. I want to say that we do this by doing our best to avoid civilian casualties ”, Explain.

The uncompromising Prime Minister insisted that Israel “was not looking for” the escalation that began on May 10 when Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem after demanding that Israeli security personnel leave the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest place in Islam.

Netanyahu linked the dramatic increase in violence to the decision of the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to cancel the Palestinian elections scheduled for this weekend.

The secular movement Fatah Abbas had struck a deal with his longtime rivals, Hamas, to hold the vote, but Abbas canceled it citing Israel’s refusal to guarantee voting in annexed East Jerusalem., which the Palestinians claim as their future capital.

Hamas accused Abbas of carrying out “coup” against the deal and giving Israel a veto over Palestinian voting rights.

Palestinian experts said that Hamas now seeks to establish itself as the true defenders of the Palestinians against Israel, and as a voice more powerful than Abbas’s Fatah.

Netanyahu said that when Hamas “He saw that these elections were not going to take place, he sought to incite riots, to incite violence, in order to advance his political objectives.”

Hinted that Hamas was also responsible for an escalation of unrest in the Sheikh Jarrah area.in East Jerusalem, where an action by Israeli settlers to evict some Palestinian families from their homes has fueled months of anger.

And he blamed the Islamists for the clashes in Al-Aqsa, which was stormed by Israeli security forces in response to Palestinian stone-throwing during the holy month of Ramadan.

“I must say we weren’t expecting a big conflagration”, Netanyahu says.

“What we did was everything in our power to reduce the potential conflict around Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.He added, using the term Jewish to refer to the Al-Aqsa complex, which is also a sacred site for Jews.

(With information from AFP)

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