Israel Hayom quoted Haiat:: "We immediately understood that there was an emergency here that could potentially become a public diplomacy disaster, which would have an impact on the course of the operation and a political impact," said Lior Haiat, head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate at the Prime Minister Office.

"We quickly contacted IDF Spokesperson, the Shin Bet, and IDF South Command officials to understand exactly what happened, and created a message that consisted of two parts: clarifying the fact that Israel was not responsible for the incident, and presenting evidence that the Islamic Jihad was to blame."