Amid the flare-up of violence in Gaza, Lapid on Saturday once again invited the former prime minister to a meeting with military secretary Avi Gil “as required by law,” and Netanyahu accepted. The prime minister’s office later announced: “The exact time will be determined between the offices.” On Friday the Israel Defense Forces launched a major military operation against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza in response to an ongoing “specific” threat by the PIJ to target Israeli civilians and soldiers near the border. While the law dictates that the opposition leader receive security briefings from the prime minister — a process that has been followed for years — Netanyahu has refused to comply with the protocol over the past year, regularly arguing against the legitimacy of the current coalition government. Get The Times of Israel Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories By signing up, you agree to the terms Netanyahu on Friday tweeted support for the military in its efforts against Gaza terrorists, though he made no mention of Israel’s political leaders. Then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meets with Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar (R), his military secretary Avi Gil and other security officials on April 2, 2022. (Shin Bet) Israeli leaders said the operation was necessary after the PIJ refused to back down from its intentions to carry out attacks on the Gaza border. After Israel’s initial strikes, Islamic Jihad began firing heavy rockets at Israeli communities in southern and central Israel, with the rocket fire continuing into Saturday afternoon. On Saturday a road in Ashkelon, a house in Sderot and a factory in a town near the border were hit by rockets, with no injuries. Three people, including two soldiers, were also slightly wounded in a separate mortar shelling near a town in Eshkol Regional Council. Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon said it has so far treated 20 people amid the rocket attacks in southern Israel, including 15 people who suffered minor injuries after falling while running to bomb shelters and five others for stress. The latest figures from Saturday afternoon from the IDF put the number of rockets fired at Israel by the PIJ at 361. Of those, 70 fell short of the Gaza Strip. The military said the Iron Dome missile defense system had demonstrated a 95 percent success rate in intercepting missiles fired at residential areas. Lapid spoke to leaders of the southern communities on Saturday afternoon, informing them of the operation and stressing the need for residents to comply with the directives of the IDF Home Front Command. In a briefing to reporters on Saturday morning, military spokesman Ran Kotsav said the IDF struck about 40 Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, including six weapons manufacturing workshops, two weapons storage sites, six observation points and five launch sites. rockets. Later on Saturday, the IDF said it had hit several more PIJ sites, as well as a cell of terrorists on their way to fire mortars at towns in southern Israel. The IDF said there are currently “no ongoing negotiations” to end the violence. It’s not (only) for you. Supporting The Times of Israel is not a transaction for an online service, such as subscribing to Netflix. The ToI community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions around the world, for free. Of course, we’ll remove all ads from your page and you’ll get access to some awesome Community-only content. But your support gives you something deeper than that: the pride of participating in something that really matters. Join the Times of Israel Community Join our Community Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this You are a devoted reader We are really glad that you read X Times of Israel articles last month. That’s why we started the Times of Israel ten years ago – to provide discerning readers like you with the must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. So now we have a request. Unlike other media, we have not set up a paywall. But because the journalism we do is expensive, we invite readers to whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. For just $6 a month you can support our quality journalism by enjoying Times of Israel ADS-FREE, as well as access to exclusive content available only to members of the Times of Israel Community. Thank you, David Horovitz, founding editor of the Times of Israel Join our community Join our community Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
