Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a dedication ceremony for a bomb-proof emergency room in the southern city of Ashkelon.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER "Hamas rule and the terror organisations have turned Gaza into a barrel bomb. We build hospitals and they build terror tunnels and rockets. We don't have a desire to harm the routine of Gaza's residents, but they must know that it is not Israel that is responsible for their hardship. The responsibility lays on the radicals that lead them. We don't intend to look away from the attempts to violate our sovereignty, or to harm our soldiers and civilians."

The Israeli military said on Monday it struck an underground militant infrastructure site in Gaza in response to rocket fire toward Israel. The military has struck various targets in Gaza in recent days and killed two Palestinians who tried to infiltrate Israel after a militant bomb on the border wounded four Israeli soldiers. Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from the besieged territory. The border area has seen an increase in violence since President Donald Trump's announcement in December recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.