Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today vowed to punish those who attack or plan to attack Israel after security forces killed a Hamas operative in a preemptive raid in the West Bank.
A Hamas operative, Hamza Abu Aleija, and two other Palestinians were shot dead in pitched gun battle in Jenin yesterday after Israeli forces conducted a counter-terrorism raid.
"Our forces hit someone who planned and organised attacks on innocent civilians," Netanyahu told his cabinet at the weekly meeting today describing the operation as "very important".
"Our policy is to attack those who attack or plan to attack us," the Premier added.
Israeli security forces had entered the refugee camp in the West Bank city to arrest Abu Aleija.
The Hamas operative allegedly planned to carry out a campaign of shooting attacks on Israeli civilians and military targets after receiving instructions to do so from Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
Israeli troops are on standby in the West Bank for the possibility of an increase in disturbances in the coming days.
Netanyahu also praised the IDF for its recent discovery of a massive tunnel from the southern Gaza Strip into Israel which he dubbed a "Hamas attack tunnel."
"This showed the importance of strict security arrangements under any possible future agreement," Netanyahu asserted re-iterating his demand for assigning top priority to Israel's security concerns in any peace deal with the Palestinians.
