White House Supports Israel Over IAF Retaliatory Airstrike in Gaza

White House spokesman throws in support saying: “Clearly the U.S. stands with the people of Israel as they defend their people & their nation against these kind of attacks.”

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

 

The White House on Sunday reaffirmed its support for Israel’s right to defend itself after Israeli aircraft struck the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a series of Palestinian rocket attacks.

An Israel Police explosives expert surveys site where a rocket exploded near Ashkelon over the weekend – Photo: Reuters

Late Saturday, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in an open area in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council in southern Israel. No damage or casualties were reported.

In response, the Israeli Air Force bombed terrorist targets in northern Gaza and temporarily closed the Erez and the Kerem Shalom border crossings into Gaza.

“Clearly the U.S. stands with the people of Israel as they defend their people and their nation against these kind of attacks,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest, accompanying U.S. President Barack Obama at a G7 summit in Germany, told reporters.

A radical Salafi group affiliated with Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks on Israel, but Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon saidd that “even if those doing the shooting are rogue gangs from global jihadi groups trying to challenge Hamas by shooting at us, we view Hamas as responsible for everything that happens in the [Gaza] Strip.”

“Don’t test Israel’s patience toward this kind of terrorism,” Ya’alon warned. “We will not compromise on the safety of Israel’s citizens, and we will not tolerate a resumption of sporadic fire.”

 

View original Israel Hayom publication at: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26021