JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened to inflict “very strong blows” on Hamas after fresh violence along the border with the Gaza Strip controlled by the group.
“Hamas has apparently not understood the message — if these attacks do not stop, they will be stopped in another way, in the form of very, very strong blows,” Netanyahu said during the weekly cabinet meeting.
“We are very close to another type of action which would include very strong blows. If Hamas is intelligent, it will cease fire and violence now,” he added.
Later in the day, the army said an aircraft fired at “a terrorist squad” that was “launching arson balloons” into Israel from northern Gaza.
There were no immediate Palestinian reports of casualties.
Meanwhile on Sunday, the Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot began a visit to the United States, the army said, during which he would attend the annual conference for Chiefs of Defense.
Israel on Friday suspended fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip, after fresh protests along the border that saw seven Palestinians killed by Israeli troops.
The suspension came days after fuel supplies had begun running to the enclave, in a fresh bid to ease an Israeli blockade that has lasted more than 10 years.
A UN-brokered deal had seen Qatar, a longtime Hamas backer, pledge to pay $60 million (52 million euros) for fuel to be brought into Gaza over six months to supply the strip’s sole power plant.
On Saturday, Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said fuel deliveries would only resume if there was a “total cessation of violence, the launching of incendiary ballons (from Gaza toward Israel) and the use of burning tires against Israeli towns” near the enclave.
Hamas has organized months of often-violent border protests, with at least 205 Palestinians and one Israeli killed since March 30.
The protesters are demanding to be allowed to return to land now inside Israel, from which their families fled or were displaced during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of the Jewish state.
Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as a cover for attacks.
Israel’s Netanyahu threatens Hamas with ‘very strong blows’
Israel’s Netanyahu threatens Hamas with ‘very strong blows’
- Netanyahu said if attacks continue, Hamas will be stopped “in the form of very, very strong blows”
- Seven Palestinians were killed in clashes along the Gaza border
Syrian authorities arrest member of elite army unit linked to Assad’s brother
- 4th Armoured Division has been accused of human rights violations and drug smuggling during Syria’s civil war
LONDON: Syrian authorities arrested Nidal Ali Suleiman, a former member of an elite military unit during the regime of Bashar Assad, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday.
Internal security forces in the Al-Ghab area, in coordination with the Anti-Terror Branch in Hama, arrested Suleiman, who is suspected of involvement in fighting in the Hama region. He is also accused of smuggling weapons to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and taking part in drug trafficking activities.
The 4th Armoured Division was an elite formation of the Syrian Arab Army established in the 1980s. From 2018 until the collapse of the Assad regime, the unit was commanded by Maher Assad, brother of the former president. The division has been accused of committing human rights violations, and was involved in drug manufacturing and smuggling during the civil war from 2011 to 2024.
Maher Assad is believed to have fled to Russia following the collapse of the regime.
Since December 2024, the new government in Damascus has arrested several Assad-era army officers for alleged crimes committed against Syrians during the conflict.
Last week, authorities in Hama detained three people accused of involvement in an armed group linked to remnants of the Assad regime.
Authorities said they remain committed to protecting citizens, maintaining civil peace, and enforcing the law against anyone who jeopardizes the security and stability of the country, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
