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On the evening of May 12th, Israel rejected any mediated talks with Hamas and other Gaza groups to reach a ceasefire in the West Bank.
Egypt, which shares a border with the Gaza Strip, has often served as a broker between Israel and Hamas, who are prepared to agree a ceasefire.
However, Israeli officials said that Israel is this time intent on eradicating the terror networks responsible for the latest conflagration of violence, and is unwilling to settle for another temporary détente.
Prime Minister #Netanyahu: 'This is only the beginning, we will hit #Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad with blows they have never imagined' pic.twitter.com/uurARwHmpm
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) May 12, 2021
Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a similar statement.
“Israel is not preparing for a ceasefire. There is currently no end date for the operation. Only when we achieve complete quiet can we talk about calm,” Gantz said. “We will not listen to moral preaching from any organization or institution regarding our right and duty to protect the citizens of Israel.”
Israeli outlet Yedioth Ahronoth quoted high-ranking Israeli political sources as saying that the Israeli response to the Egyptian proposal was:
“Do not talk to us now, we are collecting the price and reinforcing deterrence.”
The political sources added that “the general perception of the Israeli political leadership is that the Egyptians, as well as the international community, will allow Israeli operations until Eid El-Fitr, that is, until Wednesday-Thursday night.”
An Israeli political source said that “Israel depends on the result that the Israeli army will achieve. We want the army to intensify the attacks.”
A minister and member of the Israeli cabinet for political and security affairs told Yedioth Ahronoth that “the initial strike by the Israeli army should have been ten times more powerful than we saw. We will pay the price anyway, so why did not they respond in a way that shows that this is payback for launching rockets at Jerusalem? Unfortunately, the current logic now is to contain the situation.”
Some on social media claim that the Palestinian groups are warning in advance of their strikes on Social Media and that civilians could clear out of the areas.
What is not understood is that if there are social media warnings that there will be massive strikes against Israel at 18:00 or 19:00 including riots on road 65 ( again) and other areas of clashes this evening ( country wide) why is the media not warning the public ???
— Marc Kahlberg (@MarcKahlberg1) May 12, 2021
Regardless, it seems that the escalation is far from over, and more punishment will be dished out by Tel Aviv.
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