Smotrich: If Islamic Jihad stops firing, we’ll stop firing

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry, says he would not oppose a ceasefire if Islamic Jihad stops firing rockets.

“From our perspective if they stop firing at us, there’s no reason to continue,” says Smotrich to the Ynet news site. “If they continue, we will crush them and hit them — the IDF is doing this, the Air Force is doing this, the army is ready with further rounds of strikes.”

Israel launched the surprise operation early Tuesday morning with the targeted assassination of three top Islamic Jihad officials in Gaza. Ten others were killed in those airstrikes, including several children. Since then more than 500 rockets have been fired from Gaza toward Israel, and the IDF has struck dozens of Islamic Jihad targets in the Strip.