Netanyahu: 'We Attack Those Who Attack Us'

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israel will attack those who attack it, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told cabinet ministers Wednesday morning about the IDF's response to the bomb attack at the Syrian border, which injured four soldiers, one seriously.

Israel Air Force pilots attacked Syrian military sites, including an army headquarters, a training camp and an artillery battery overnight Tuesday.

"Last night, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] attacked targets in Syrian territory. These were targets of Syrian elements that not only facilitated, but also cooperated with, the attacks on our forces. Our policy is very clear: We attack those who attack us. We are also, to the best of our ability, interdicting the transfer of weapons by sea, air and land, and this activity will continue."

Netanyahu said terror attacks against Israel last year was the lowest in the past decade. Sometimes, he said, the IDF must take "vigorous action" as it did in response to Tuesday's attack in the Golan Heights.

"This vigorous policy is what is responsible for maintaining Israel's security and that of its citizens," he continued. "Relative to the Middle East as a whole, which is undergoing profound turmoil, Israel is most stable and secure place in the entire region."

Meanwhile, the Arab website al-Arabiya speculated Tuesday that the Hezbollah terrorists who carried out the attack hoped to kidnap at least one IDF soldier. Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based Iranian proxy, and Hamas, the Palestinian faction ruling the Gaza Strip, have kidnapped IDF soldiers in the past and used them as bargaining chips for the release of Arab convicts serving time for terror-related crimes.

Syria said one soldier was killed and seven wounded in the air strikes and accused Israel of "desperate attempts" to escalate the situation" and of breaking international law.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said the IDF "reserves the right" to respond however it chooses to defend Israelis.

"Whoever dares strike us, his blood [will] be on his own head," he continued, warning Syrian President Bashar Assad that if his regime "continues to collaborate with terrorists…we will keep on exacting a heavy price from it and make sure it [Syria] regrets its actions."

IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz called on Syrians and Hezbollah to "stop all of the nonsense for their own sakes."