Israel has been waging a fierce battle against terrorism for 100 years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday on a visit to southern Israel, which was the target of some 200 mortars and rockets over the weekend before a cease-fire took effect.
"Right now, this is the place where Islamist terrorist meeting the Jewish state, and we are determined to win. It involves trading blows, and they aren't over yet," Netanyahu told a group of residents.
Netanyahu said he had just come from an "excellent" meeting with heads of Gaza-adjacent communities and told them that Israel was continuing to fight.
"Just like we are now stopping the threat of the [terror] tunnels and like we successfully worked to stop the mass breaches of the security fence [during the ongoing Gaza border riots of the past few months], we have instructed the IDF to contain and put a stop to the kite and balloon terrorism, and we are in the middle of that process," the prime minister said.
Netanyahu added that it was important for Hamas to realize that it was up against a "steel wall" and that wall was made up of a determined government, strong local leadership, and Zionist settlement that the government would continue to support.
"And, of course, the Israel Defense Forces," he said.
Netanyahu told the local crowd that he had visited a local kindergarten and reiterated the state's commitment to these "sweet kids."
"I don't want to tell anyone that this is over. The day before yesterday [Saturday], we struck an immense blow against Hamas, the strongest they have seen since Operation Protective Edge," Netanyahu reminded the locals.
The prime minister also stressed that the governmental echelon was changing its instructions to the military.
"We have ordered the IDF to put a stop to it. We will not accept – I said it yesterday as clearly as possible, and people should listen – especially on the other side – that as far as we're concerned, there is no such thing as a cease-fire that makes an 'exception' for burning balloons and kites. That can't be.
"I'll say it for the seventh time, and this time, I hope it will sink in. But if I'm not understood, [the enemy] will understand the actions of the IDF," the prime minister said.
