"Wars are only conducted when there is no choice, and now there is no choice," Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the parliament. Apparently, anything less than the "toughest response" to Hamas is not being considered as Tel Aviv had "exhausted the other options," according to a report by RT.

As the IDF stationed approximately 60 tanks and armored personnel carriers near the Palestinian border in what may be the largest military deployment since 2014's Operation Protective Edge, speculations of a war and fear of bloody conflict have crept up.

The stationing of tanks and other armored vehicles on the border with Palestine occurred after an exchange of fire last week, in which a rocket from Gaza hit the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, damaging a house, while another fell into the sea near Tel Aviv. The Israeli Air Force retaliated, killing one Palestinian and injuring several others, according to a report by RT.

Lieberman said that the blame for the escalation is solely on Hamas, a Palestinian militant faction that rules Gaza. He claimed that there is no popular uprising in Gaza and that Palestinians taking part in large-scale protests are on Hamas' pay.