The IDF will take all necessary action to return the quiet to the South, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday following a barrage of rockets and mortar shells that rained down on southern Israel overnight.
In
an interview with Army Radio, the defense minister said that the IDF
was exploring all options in search of a solution to silence the
escalation. He indicated, however, that a full-scale military operation
was unlikely at this time.
Barak also dismissed the idea of talking to Hamas, saying that it is an enemy organization that Israel cannot talk to.
Meanwhile,
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz held an evaluation of the
latest security situation and weighed the military's response options to
the Palestinian rocket barrage on Wednesday morning.
Ahead of
the evaluation, Gantz toured southern Israel together with the
commanders of Military Intelligence and the IDF's Southern Command.