Israeli officials insisted they were not seeking an escalation after Gaza-based terrorists fired a rocket into southern Israel on Sunday, but also unequivocally signaled that such attacks would not be tolerated.
Just hours after the terrorist rocket landed in the backyard of a home in the southern town of Sderot, Israel launched a massive wave of aerial strikes on dozens of Hamas installations throughout Gaza.
While Israel was careful to avoid casualties (Hamas reported just 1–2 people physically injured in the strikes), it was an unprecedented response to a single rocket attack.
And that sat well with the battered residents of southern Israel.
“I am satisfied that we are not allowing this trickle of terror to continue and are responding harshly,” one Sderot resident, a mother of two, told the NRG news portal. “The other side has to learn that such random attacks threaten our children.”
Another local mother, Liat Peretz, added:
“It’s about time that every single attack will be met with a response. Our children are supposed to be on vacation, and every terrorist rocket sets them back (psychologically). My son suffers from anxiety, and I managed to get him out of the house only after I promised him that the IDF fought all night.”
Originally posted at Israel Today Magazine.
