Liberman calls for ‘Defensive Shield II’ in Gaza

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman calls for an operation to eradicate the threat of rocket attacks in Gaza, saying another Operation Defensive Shield is necessary — this time in Gaza.

Operation Defensive Shield was a military operation took place in 2002, at the height of the Second Intifada, as part of the IDF’s efforts to decrease terrorist attacks originating in the West Bank.

Today, Liberman says in a statement that Israel “mustn’t bury its head in the hand,” drawing a link between the murder of three Israeli students in the West Bank and the upsurge in rocket attacks on southern Israel.

The cause of both, he says, was Hamas’s efforts to “take over the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank following the establishment of a Palestinian unity government.”

“Hamas was and remains a terrorist organization,” says Liberman, “and its murderous activities are at the heart of all its operations. Therefore, it must be prevented from taking over the area through a thorough and determined military operation, similar to Operation Defensive Shield over a decade ago, by damaging its infrastructure, capabilities and executive arm.”