Israel’s defense minister has claimed Hamas is preparing to attack Israeli communities near the Gaza border, as the country’s forces continue their offensive into the Palestinian enclave.
The warning was issued to Israeli sailors at the Ashdod naval base during a visit by Defense Minister Israel Katz.
“All that Hamas is doing now is updating targets in the border communities through sources that provide it with information, like the Iranians and others,” Katz told the sailors, as reported by the Times of Israel.
He had received the intelligence following a visit to the headquarters of Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, he said.
Katz warned Hamas was “also planning on how to continue, and we therefore must win here,” during his address. “We must make sure that [Hamas] does not stay here,” he added.
“There is no entity that cannot be subdued,” Katz said, striking a defiant tone, before praising the efforts of Israel’s navy in his address to the sailors, Jewish Press reported.
During his visit, Katz boarded a vessel to sail off the Gaza coast, and was given a tour.
His warning about Iran came a day after two Israeli citizens were arrested on suspicion of spying on Katz for the Tehran regime.
The two suspected spies were arrested on Tuesday in the village where Katz lives.
Katz thanked security forces for “foiling an Iranian plot to harm me as defense minister of the state of Israel,” the Times of Israel reported.
It also follows reports that Israel is preparing to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, throwing US attempts to negotiate a deal with Tehran into chaos.
Intercepted messages between Israeli officials as well as observations of Israeli military movements have led the US to believe such an attack could be imminent, officials in US intelligence told CNN.
