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Middle East conflict

Netanyahu says Israel will continue its actions in Gaza Strip

He noted that Israel was under pressure because of its actions in the Palestinian enclave but it enjoyed serious support, first of all from the United States

TEL AVIV, May 16. /TASS/. Israel will continue to act against radicals in the Gaza Strip who shell its territory, it will "take some time," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address on Sunday.

The prime minister spoke after a status update, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, with the Defense Minister, the IDF Chief-of-Staff, the head of the ISA, the head of the Mossad and the head of the National Security Council.

Netanyahu stressed that not a single terrorist in the Gaza Strip had an immunity against Israeli attacks. He noted that Israel was under pressure because of its actions in the Palestinian enclave but it enjoyed serious support, first of all from the United States. "We have international support and we use it," he said.

The defense minister said that the Israeli army continued to deliver strikes against radicals’ targets in the Palestinian enclave with an aim of establishing lasting lull.

Israel and Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip have been exchanging missile strikes since May 10, following an outburst of unrest near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City in early May. Clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli police were triggered by an Israeli court ruling to seize dwelling houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood from Arab families who have been living there for more than 50 years in favor of Jewish resettlers who had reportedly owned these buildings before 1948.

According to the latest reports, at least ten Israelis and 202 Palestinians, including 52 children, have been killed.

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