Netanyahu orders army to be ready for ‘wide-scale campaign’ in Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has instructed the army to be ready for a “wide-scale campaign” in the Gaza Strip ahead of major clashes expected over the weekend.

“We’re tightening the security ring around the Gaza Strip,” he says at an event in northern Israel after visiting troops on the Gaza border.

“Citizens of Israel should know that if we must we’ll enter [Gaza] strong and confident, after we’ve exhausted all the other possibilities,” adds Netanyahu, who is also defense minister.

The comments come as the army prepares for large riots along the security fence over the weekend as Palestinians mark one year since the start of the “March of Return” protests and after Israel and Palestinian terror groups in Gaza engaged in intense fighting earlier in the week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speaks with an IDF officer near the border with the Gaza Strip on March 28, 2019. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Netanyahu also addresses tensions on the northern border in the wake of a strike attributed to Israel in Syria on targets linked to Iran.

“Iran is constantly trying to bring very advanced and very deadly long-range precision missiles into Syria. We’re not prepared to accept this and our operations against Iran’s military entrenchment efforts in Syria — to introduce advanced weaponry — continue all the time,” he says.