An Israeli tank drives on the Israeli side of the border between Israel and Gaza. (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Tuesday condemned the Gazan attack on Israel that began in the early hours and continued through the evening.
One official called the attacks “reprehensible,” while another told The Jerusalem Post that they justified “preventative” measures taken by the Israeli military – actions previewed earlier by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed a response to the worst day of projectile fire on the South since the 2014 Gaza war (Operation Protective Edge).
“We are aware of numerous mortar attacks on Israel today and are closely monitoring the situation,” a National Security Council spokesman told the Post. “We call on those launching the attacks to cease this destructive violence.
“We fully support Israel’s right to self-defense,” the official added, “and to take action to prevent such provocations.”
Earlier in the day, Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East peace effort, lambasted those responsible for striking at an Israeli kindergarten and implicated Hamas, the terrorist organization in charge of the coastal strip. That strike did not result in any injuries, but others did.
“Hamas has failed – all it can offer is terror,” Greenblatt wrote on Twitter, calling the attacks reprehensible.
“Palestinians in Gaza need real leaders to work on Gaza’s real problems with its water, its economy and so much more.”
Greenblatt hosted a conference on the humanitarian crisis facing Gaza earlier this spring that brought together diplomats from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the wider Arab world, as well as other global players. He and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, plan to release their plan for Middle East peace in the coming months.
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