Judah Ari Gross is The Times of Israel's religions and Diaspora affairs correspondent.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz says Israel’s goal with its ongoing strikes in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire from the enclave is to severely weaken the Hamas terror group in order to restore calm to southern Israel.
Gantz says the operation, dubbed Guardian of the Walls, is likely to last at least several days as Israeli aircraft, ground forces and naval ships bomb assets and operatives of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“The purpose of the operation is to strike Hamas hard, to weaken it and to make it regret its decision [to launch rockets at Israel],” Gantz says, speaking to reporters next to an Iron Dome missile defense battery in southern Israel.
“Every bomb has an address. We will continue this in both the coming hours and the coming days. It’s hard to estimate how long it will take,” he says.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz speaks to an air defense soldier operating an Iron Dome missile defense battery in southern Israel on May 11, 2021. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Minister)
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
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