RELATED:

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

The IDF will launch an operation to protect hundreds of thousands of civilians in the South under the threat of rockets if it is forced to do so, Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz warned Sunday.“If we don’t have a choice, we’ll know how to operate in Gaza, and when it happens, we will initiate an orderly and painful [operation],” Gantz said while touring a Golani Brigade base, according to Israel Radio.Israel called off a military operation, which would have included ground forces aimed at stopping Palestinian rocket fire at the start of the month, due to an Egyptian request to give cease-fire efforts a chance.Gantz’s comments form the second time in as many weeks that he sounded a warning over a possible operation to end the rocket attacks from Gaza.“The IDF will need to [embark on] a significant offensive operation in the Gaza Strip,” he said last week during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting.He emphasized the need for Israel to choose the timing of the offensive rather than be dragged into it by terrorist organizations.There was an upsurge in rocket attacks on southern cities last month. Two civilians were killed, and residential areas in Ashdod and Beersheba were damaged.