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JERUSALEM -- Israel's prime minister says the army is prepared for a "significant widening" of its operation in the Gaza Strip.

Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Thursday that Israel has "made it clear" it won't tolerate continued rocket fire on its civilians.

He says he hopes Hamas has received the message. But if not, he says Israel will take whatever action is necessary to protect its people.

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Looks like picking off Jabari was just the tip of the iceberg for a new Israeli offensive. Given how Hamas was born to destroy Israel, though, it's not surprising that this chain of events is transpiring. It's good to see that the Israeli military is making sure to only hit military targets, and dropping leaflets to warn civilians to stay away from military installations is going above and beyond to keep civilians safe, as the planes dropping the leaflets could be shot down if Palestinian militants desired it. Still, though, this looks less and less like a short duration strike, and more like a prolonged offensive with the potential of buildup of ground forces. The events of the next week will be very telling to the direction this will take.