Israeli Army Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday called for a “strong blow” against Hamas Movement in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
“We must land a strong blow against Hamas. That’s the only way to lower the level of violence to zero or close to zero” Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Lieberman as saying on Tuesday.
He added that he hoped the Israeli security cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Gaza would take a hard line “even at a price of moving to a wide-scale confrontation”.
Lieberman’s comments followed calls by Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett for a harsh response against any Palestinians who cross the Israeli fence surrounding Gaza during regular protests on the boundary.
Hardliners Lieberman and Bennett have competed since late September over who might deliver the harshest statements on Israel’s military action in Gaza after Bennett claimed the Israeli response to the protests had been too weak.
Lieberman responded by pointing out how many Palestinians had been killed or injured during the protests compared to the lack of casualties on the Israeli side.
Since the Great March of Return protests began on 30 March this year at least 203 Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli live fire.
