IDF Prepared For All Possibilities In South, Says Senior Likud MK

The Times of Israel reports: A senior Likud member of Knesset said Saturday that Hamas was deterred by the last round of fighting with Israel in 2014 but that it is gaining strength.

Speaking on Channel 2 TV on Saturday, Tzachi Hanegbi, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the IDF was prepared for all possibilities, including grave ones, regarding possible new conflict with Gaza’s Islamist terror rulers.

“It’s no secret that Hamas has not changed its ways. Although [the terror group] is deterred, it is gaining strength,” Hanegbi, who also serves as chairman of the government coalition, said Saturday. He added that “what’s more important is what the IDF is doing. And it is preparing for all possibilities, including grave, difficult ones. I can say that if there are provocations [from Hamas], we can count on [the IDF].”