Israel: ‘Gaza offensive will continue until Islamic Jihad ceases rocket firing’

Smoke rises from the area as a result of the Israeli attacks in Beit Lahia, in the north of Gaza on May 12, 2023. Israeli attacks over Gaza Strip continue [Ali Jadallah – Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli occupation announced on Saturday that it would not stop its offensive on the besieged

Gaza Strip before Islamic Jihad ceases firing rockets towards Israel.

“The Egyptians are trying as usual,” Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi disclosed. “They talk with their partners, mainly Hamas. I don’t know how close their connection is to the Islamic Jihad faction, Iran’s executive contractor.”

Hanegbi indicated that, so far, the Egyptians: “Have not succeeded in persuading Islamic Jihad to stop firing at Israel.”

He stressed that Israel would not agree to stop its policy of “targeted assassinations” in the Gaza Strip: “Our goal is ‘silence will be met with silence.'”

Meanwhile, Hanegbi said that, prior to the Israel offensive, Islamic Jihad had about 6,000 rockets in Gaza, and now only around 5,000 remain: “This number is small compared to Hamas, which has four times that.”

Hanegbi added: “Fortunately, the damage is minimal because the Iron Dome knows how to intercept 96.3 per cent of the shots, and many rockets do not [even] reach the level of interception because they fall in Gaza.”

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