As Israel braced for renewed riots along the Gaza border, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stern warning on Thursday at an Israeli Air Force pilot course graduation ceremony.
"Anyone who drags us into a confrontation will regret this dearly; the air force has a critical role in this as well," Netanyahu said.
Some 17 blazes were reported on Thursday as a result of incendiary kites sent from Gaza. One of them had a suspicious object attached to it, and an Israel Police counterterror unit dismantled it. Hamas media outlets aired footage Thursday of incendiary balloons that can supposedly reach as far as Beersheba, some 30 miles from Gaza.
The latest fires come just hours after Israeli tanks fired at a group of Palestinians who tried to cross into Israel.
The terrorist group ruling Gaza, Hamas, warned on Thursday that it would respond to any Israeli military action in Gaza by firing rockets. A source inside the organization said that although it wants to avoid a full-fledged conflagration, "it will not let the Zionist enemy create facts on the ground." Hamas, the source said, "has a new equation in which any form of aggression will be met with aggression."
Meanwhile, several dozen residents from Ashkelon held a demonstration in the city on Thursday, lamenting what they said was the government's incompetence in dealing with the security situation.
