There will be no choice but to enter a campaign, to war against Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Kan public radio on Thursday.

“Israeli citizens know perfectly well that I act responsibly and with discretion. I’ll will open the campaign at the most appropriate moment, I will determine it,” the prime minister said.

Netanyahu said, referring to his detractors, “Stop engaging in harsh criticism… I’m not going to act according to your tweets and your needling.”

“When you are in charge you have to decide how you’re going to conduct the war… I won’t start it a second before conditions are optimal. I won’t go one minute before we’re prepared. And I won’t start it in one minute. We’re preparing for a different kind of war, and this is my responsibility,” Netanyahu said.

During the week, terrorists from Gaza have fired a number of rocket salvos at the Jewish State.

On Tuesday, a rocket attack forced Netanyahu to evacuate a campaign event in Ashdod in the middle of his speech.

In a video posted to Twitter by Kahn News reporter Amichai Stein, Netanyahu is seen being whisked away by his security detail during a campaign speech in the coastal city of Ashdod, which is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the northern border of the Gaza Strip.

Rocket sirens begin blaring overhead as Netanyahu told crowds to evacuate the space.

In another clip posted by Stein, security guards direct Netanyahu out of the room as crowds chant “Bibi! Bibi,” an affectionate nickname often used by his supporters.

Rocket sirens are common in communities which border the Gaza Strip, and many public event spaces and private homes in Israel have shelters used during apparent rocket scares.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a tweet on Tuesday night that the rocket had been launched from the Gaza Strip towards the cities of Ashdod and neighboring Ashkelon. It added that the rocket had been intercepted by the Iron Dome, Israel’s rocket defence system.

Netanyahu was unharmed. Shortly after the incident, he tweeted photos from the rally, along with the caption: “Residents of Ashdod, I love you!”

Hours later, the IDF said it responded to the missile launch with airstrikes on 15 targets in the Gaza Strip including what it claimed was a weapons manufacturing site and a Hamas “terror tunnel.”

Haaretz reported that Israel also carried out several airstrikes near the city of Deir al Balah in central Gaza, in addition to striking along the northern border.

Source: World Israel News / Business Insider

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