Gantz Asks Government for Two-Week Extension to Home Front State of Emergency

i24 News

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz attends a cabinet meeting of the new government, at the Chagall Hall in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, May 24, 2020. Photo: Abir Sultan / Pool via Reuters / File.

Israel’s Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz asked the government on Wednesday to extend the Home Front’s state of emergency another two weeks, which includes all communities within an 80-kilometer radius from the Gaza Strip.

Gantz said that there was “no end date” to the Gaza military operation as Israel likely faces another night of rocket attacks aimed not just at the south but the center of the country where the overwhelming majority of the population resides.

A new wave of rocket attacks could come in retaliation for a major military operation conducted jointly by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) that killed a number of senior Hamas commanders, many of them thought to be close to Hamas military wing commander Mohammed Deif.

“Israel is not preparing for a ceasefire. There is currently no end date for the operation. Only when we achieve complete quiet can we talk about calm,” Gantz said. “We will not listen to moral preaching from any organization or institution regarding our right and duty to protect the citizens of Israel.”