Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he would “restore calm and security” to the country, after rising tensions over the last week in the Middle East.
Tensions have mounted in Israel since last week, with heavy clashes, shootings, rocket strikes, and a car-ramming attack marring a period when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter.
The day after Israeli police stormed the prayer hall of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque — Islam’s third-holiest site — in a pre-dawn raid, more than 30 rockets were fired from Lebanese soil into Israel, an attack which the Israeli army said was most likely carried out by the Palestinian armed movement Hamas.
Israel then bombarded Gaza and southern Lebanon, targeting “terror infrastructures” that it said belonged to Hamas.
“We will not allow the terrorist Hamas to establish itself in Lebanon,” by acting on “all fronts,” Netanyahu said Monday.
In the same news conference Netanyahu also announced that he would reverse his earlier decision to sack his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
“There have been disputes between us, even difficult disputes on certain subjects, but I have decided to leave these disputes behind us,” he said.
“Gallant remains in his post and we will continue to work together for the safety of the citizens of Israel.”