Operation not over yet, says Ya’alon

Operation Protective Edge isn’t over yet and the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip may resume, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon says during a visit to the Navy base in Ashdod.

“I don’t know if we will reach an agreement by midnight on Wednesday,” he tells navy officers and soldiers. “The shooting  could restart.”

Ya’alon says that if the rocket fire restarts, the clashes between Israel and the Gaza Strip will reignite. Israel will retaliate against terror targets and terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip might attempt to carry out an attack against Israel.

“We have to be alert and ready,” he says.

Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon visits an IDF navy base in Ashdod. August 12, 2014. (Photo credit: IDF Spokesperson/FLASH90)

Ya’alon adds that while Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip has not ended yet, Hamas and other terrorist organizations have “certainly been dealt a heavy blow” — more so than in previous Israeli operations Pillar of Defense and Cast Lead, as well as the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

“There’s no doubt that the damage in the Gaza Strip is massive,” Ya’alon says, explaining that Israel has struck command centers, headquarters, rocket launching sites, training compounds, banks and offices linked to Hamas and other terrorist groups.

He also praises the navy for its role in combating the threat of Gazan terrorism, and particularly in thwarting a commando attack on Kibbutz Zikim by sea.