Israeli defense minister says Gaza protests ‘cannot continue,’ urges tougher measures

Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that months of violent Palestinian protests on the Gaza border cannot be allowed to go on, urging cabinet colleagues to back tougher measures. “The situation as it is today cannot continue,” Lieberman told troops and commanders at Reim army base, near southern Israel’s border with Hamas-ruled Gaza. Hamas has organized months of border protests, with at least 205 Palestinians and one Israeli killed since March 30. The protesters are demanding to be allowed to return to land now inside Israel, from which their families fled or were displaced during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of the Jewish state. “We must strike Hamas a hard blow,” Lieberman said, adding it must be a collective decision of the 12-member security cabinet. The minister said that deadly protests Friday, after Israel helped facilitate diesel shipments to the fuel-starved Gaza Strip, were a turning point. On Friday night, Lieberman suspended the shipments in response to border violence when the Hamas-run Health Ministry said seven Palestinians were killed, AFP reports.