Israel’s war Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) threatened to wage a bloody war against Gaza at the start of a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“Wars are only conducted when there is no choice and now there is no choice” the minister claimed on Monday. “Anything less than the toughest response won’t help anymore. We have exhausted the other options.”
Lieberman alleged that Hamas was behind recent violence from the blockaded Gaza Strip and pays large sums to protesters.
“There is no popular uprising” Lieberman said. “There is violence organized by Hamas. Fifteen thousand people don’t come by foot to the border at their own will. They come by bus and are paid.”
“I don’t believe in reaching an arrangement with Hamas” he said. “It hasn’t worked doesn’t work and won’t work in the future.”
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Avi Dichter (Likud) also accused Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas of inflaming tensions in the Gaza Strip by preventing supplies and funding from reaching the people there.
“It is intolerable unacceptable and unreasonable that Abbas closes the faucet for Gaza and Israel has to pay the price” Dichter said.
