"Whoever does to us what Hamas did on Simchat Torah - will be destroyed," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tweeted on Tuesday morning, joining a growing number of Israeli politicians sharing their reactions to the IAF strikes on Gaza on Monday night.
כפי שהבטחנו והסברנו, צה״ל חזר הלילה למתקפה עצימה על עזה במטרה להשמיד את חמאס, להשיב את החטופים כולם ולהסיר את האיום שנשקף מרצועת עזה אל עבר אזרחי ישראל ובכך להשיב את הביטחון לתושבי עוטף ישראל ואזרחי ישראל כולם לאורך זמן.זהו מהלך מדורג שבנינו ותכננו בשבועות האחרונים מאז כניסת…
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) March 18, 2025
"The IDF returned tonight to a powerful attack on Gaza with the goal of destroying Hamas, returning all the hostages, and removing the threat posed by the Gaza Strip to Israeli citizens," he wrote.
"This is a gradual process that we have built and planned in recent weeks since the new chief of staff took office, and with God's help, it will look completely different from what has been done so far.
"We are more determined than ever to complete the task and destroy Hamas," Smotrich added.
Otzma Yehudit head, Itamar Ben-Gvir, echoed similar sentiments, saying he welcomed the return to "intense fighting," adding that military action in Gaza "is the right, moral, ethical, and most justified step in order to destroy the terrorist organization Hamas and return our hostages."
Ben-Gvir has been a vocal opponent of a hostage deal that involved a cease of fighting in the Gaza Strip. On January 19, he and his party left the coalition due to the “reckless approval of an agreement with the Hamas terror organization," adding that “this deal forfeits the IDF’s hard-won achievements in the war, involves withdrawing forces from Gaza, and halts the fighting in a manner that capitulates to Hamas.”
Education Minister Yoav Kisch said, "Release the hostages or hellfire. Now."
Golan: Go out and protest
However, not all politicians expressed support over the strikes; Democrats lead Yair Golan claimed the move was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to distract attention away from his dismissal of Shin Bet Chief Ronen Bar.
"The soldiers on the front lines and the hostages in Gaza are just cards in his game of survival," Golan wrote. "Netanyahu is using the lives of our citizens and soldiers because he fears the public protest against the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet."
Golan encouraged protesters to "erupt in fury to save the hostages, soldiers, and the State of Israel from the hands of this corrupt and dangerous man."
Former defense minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday "The renewal of fire in Gaza is the right move to create the conditions for the return of the hostages.
"Hamas understands only force and that military pressure is what will bring change—it is what brought Hamas to the negotiating table and led to the return of hostages in past deals, and it is what led to its elimination as a military organization," he added.
Gallant emphasized, "The most urgent goal is to bring the hostages back alive, and this can only be achieved through complex political decisions.
"The military operation should focus on creating the conditions for the return of the hostages," he further noted.