The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a massive air and ground offensive on Palestinian Hamas terrorists in Gaza early Friday morning, lighting up the night sky with bombardments and explosions as attacks were carried out throughout the area.

An explosion lights the sky following an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2021. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

An explosion lights the sky following an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2021. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

An explosion lights the sky following an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2021. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

TOPSHOT – Fire billows from Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, on May 13, 2021. – Around 1,500 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israeli cities since hostilities escalated between Hamas militants and Israel earlier in the week, Israel’s army said on Thursday. The Israeli Defence Force had said early Wednesday that 1,000 rockets had been launched from Gaza since Monday evening, but by early Thursday the number had leapt by roughly 500. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the mission of the operation was to bring “quiet and security” to the people of Israel, after several days in which Hamas and other terror organizations had launched thousands of rockets at Israeli cities.

“This operation will continue as long as necessary,” Netanyahu warned the international community.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new e-book, The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it). His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.