JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday Israel is prepared for a widespread military campaign in Gaza as tensions simmered following the latest flare-up — but only after all other options were exhausted.
Netanyahu has been seeking to head off political pressure over Gaza ahead of April 9 elections, in which he faces a strong challenge from former military chief Benny Gantz.
“In recent days I gave instructions to fortify forces, to add vehicles, to be prepared for a comprehensive campaign,” he said during the inauguration of a new road in northern Israel.
The premier, who was speaking after visiting military forces on the Gaza border, noted however that a war would be the last option.
“All Israelis should know that if a comprehensive campaign is required, we will enter it strong and safe, after we have exhausted all other possibilities,” said Netanyahu, who also serves as defense minister.
Palestinian militants had on Monday fired a long-distance rocket from the Gaza Strip, hitting a house north of Tel Aviv and wounding seven Israelis, triggering Israeli air strikes and further Palestinian fire at southern Israel.
Netanyahu beefed up the military presence near Gaza, but by Wednesday the fighting had abated.
Israel has been carefully monitoring the situation on the Gaza border ahead of Saturday, which will mark a year since mass protests and deadly clashes began there.
A demonstration on the day of the anniversary is expected to draw thousands of Palestinians.
Netanyahu says prepared for ‘comprehensive’ Gaza operation
Netanyahu says prepared for ‘comprehensive’ Gaza operation
- Benjamin Netanyahu: In recent days I gave instructions to fortify forces, to add vehicles, to be prepared for a comprehensive campaign
- Netanyahu: All Israelis should know that if a comprehensive campaign is required, we will enter it strong and safe, after we have exhausted all other possibilities
The West Bank soccer field slated for demolition by Israel
- The move is likely to eliminate one of the few spaces where Palestinian children are able to run and play
BETHLEHEM: Israeli authorities have ordered the demolition of a soccer field in a crowded refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, eliminating one of the few spaces where Palestinian children are able to run and play.
“If the field gets demolished, this will destroy our dreams and our future. We cannot play any other place but this field, the camp does not have spaces,” said Rital Sarhan, 13, who plays on a girls’ soccer team in the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem.
The Israeli military issued a demolition order for the soccer field on December 31, saying it was built illegally in an area that abuts the concrete barrier wall that Israel built in the West Bank.
“Along the security fence, a seizure order and a construction prohibition order are in effect; therefore, the construction in the area was carried out unlawfully,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Mohammad Abu Srour, an administrator at Aida Youth Center, which manages the field, said the military gave them seven days to demolish the field.
The Israeli military often orders Palestinians to carry out demolitions themselves. If they do not act, the military steps in to destroy the structure in question and then sends the Palestinians a bill for the costs.
According to Abu Srour, Israel’s military told residents when delivering the demolition order that the soccer field represented a threat to the separation wall and to Israelis.
“I do not know how this is possible,” he said.
Israeli demolitions have drawn widespread international criticism and coincide with heightened fears among Palestinians of an organized effort by Israel to formally annex the West Bank, the area seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel accelerated demolitions in Palestinian refugee camps in early 2025, leading to the displacement of 32,000 residents of camps in the central and northern West Bank. Human Rights Watch has called the demolitions a war crime. Israel has said they are intended to disrupt militant activity.
