“Today Israel was under shelling from the Gaza Strip. Our policy is clear: if someone shoots at us, we will forcefully fire back. Even a single shot in our direction will not be left without an answer … Our policy is clear. I hope that it is also clear for Hamas,” Netanyahu said Monday in a video, published on his Facebook page.
Israel classifies the Palestinian movement, which is the de facto authority in Gaza, as a terrorist group and accuses it of attacking the country's territory.
At the same time, the Hamas seeks independence of the Palestinian state and strives for Israel's withdrawal from its territories, including the West Bank.
In July 2014, Israel launched a military operation named Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in order to destroy its rocket launchers and the network of tunnels along the Gaza border with the Jewish State. On August 26, 2016, Israel and Palestinian armed groups agreed on a ceasefire.
