Israel’s security cabinet instructed the IDF to continue to act with force after its meeting at the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv on Thursday evening.
“The cabinet has instructed the IDF to continue to act with force against perpetrators of terror,” a brief cabinet statement said.
The IDF confirmed striking a five story building in the Gaza Strip which served as an office building for the internal security forces of Hamas in the Rimal neighborhood of the northern Gaza Strip.
The unit is the executive branch of the political leadership of Hamas and manages all internal security activities in the Gaza Strip.
According to the IDF some members of the Internal Security Unit are also active in the group’s military wing.
The attack was carried out in response to the launching of a rocket by Hamas towards Beersheba “as expression of the IDF’s intelligence and operational capabilities, which will deepen and intensify as necessary,” the military said
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called on the UN Secretary-General and Security Council members to condemn Hamas’s rocket fire on Israeli towns.
“Sirens again burst the hopes of children near the Gaza border for a quiet summer vacation – no country would stand for such a situation. The international community must condemn Hamas and hold the organization responsible for this incomparable terror attack,” said Danon.
“Israel will continue to use all necessary tools to prevent harm to its citizens and defend its sovereignty.”
Eighteen Palestinians were reportedly wounded in the Israeli airstrike on a multi-story building in the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, Palestinian sources said.
Pictures from the scene showed Palestinians gathering around the building, which was entirely destroyed by the Israeli airstrike.
