The political-security Cabinet convened this evening (Tuesday) to discuss Operation Shield and Arrow and the possibility that the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip will launch a significant response to the assassination of three Islamic Jihad leaders overnight.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting: “Last night we embarked on Operation Shield and Arrow.” In a joint effort, the IDF and the Shin Bet eliminated the three senior members of the Islamic Jihad organization in the Gaza Strip. Many of these murderers are responsible for firing rockets from Gaza into our territories and directing terrorism from Judea and Samaria against our citizens. Already on the day the rockets were fired last week, I ordered, together with the Minister of Defense, to prepare an operation to defeat the terrorist leaders, which actually amputated the organization”s leadership in the Gaza Strip.”
“Our principle is clear: Whoever harms us, we will harm them, and with greater force. Our long arm reaches every terrorist at the time and place of our choosing,” Netanyahu said. “We are in the middle of a campaign, and we are prepared for any possibility. I suggest to our enemies – do not mess with us.”

During the meeting, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded that the government continue to carry out pre-emptive strikes against terrorists in Gaza. Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein attended the meeting as observers.
The meeting began as the IDF announced that it had struck a group of Islamic Jihad terrorists who were preparing to fire anti-tank missiles at Israel in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.