JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met with community leaders of southern Israeli towns bordering Gaza, warning that Israel is engaged in a “lengthy battle.”
Netanyahu’s visit on Monday comes a day after an informal cease-fire took hold to end 24 hours of intense fighting with Gaza’s Hamas militants that had threatened to devolve into all-out war.
Israel pounded Hamas targets in its most massive bombardment since the 2014 war, while militants fired dozens of rockets toward Israel that halted daily life in the area.
Netanyahu said he’s ordered the military to put an end to Gaza’s campaign of sending incendiary kites and balloons across the border to target Israeli farms and nature reserves.
He says Hamas will face a “wall of steel” if it keeps up its aggression against Israel.