Israel Kills Gaza Toddler in ‘Retaliatory’ Air Strike

Netanyahu: Our Policy Is to Act Forcefully

Israeli warplanes pounded the Gaza Strip in a series of attacked dubbed “retaliatory” for the death of an Israeli Defense Ministry employee shot along the border fence.

The strikes don’t appear to have been aimed at anything in particular, but Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said they would be painful, and indeed they were, with one killing a three-year-old girl.

An Israeli military spokesman said the strikes were “accurate” to their targets and that the planes returned safely. They didn’t address that the only confirmed death was a toddler killed in front of her home, in a strike that also wounded her mother and brother.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likewise didn’t address the casualties directly, insisting only that he attack was in keeping with government policy to respond “forcefully.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.