Israel dealt Hamas a "substantial" blow over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday.
"Our policy is clear – if anyone attacks us, we will deal them a forceful counterattack. I hope that they [Hamas] got the message. If not, they will in the future," Netanyahu told the cabinet, referring to the pounding the military dealt Hamas over the weekend as Gaza terrorists fired 200 rockets at Israeli border towns.
"I've heard people say that Israel agreed to a cease-fire that will allow arson terrorism using balloons and kites to continue. That's not true. We are not willing to accept any attack on us, and we will respond accordingly," the prime minister said.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in the meeting that Israel had no intention of tolerating rockets, incendiary kites, or any other form of arson terrorism from the Gaza Strip.
"Hamas has been dealt a serious blow. The rockets that landed in Israeli territory, as well as the alerts and people running to shelters, are an unacceptable reality, and we do not intend to resign ourselves to it. I hope that Hamas will draw the right conclusions," Lieberman said.
Strategic Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz said that Lieberman needed to present the cabinet with a clear proposal for a policy on Gaza terrorism that entailed either toppling Hamas' regime and eradicating terrorism entirely, or renouncing any responsibility to the civilian population of Gaza and erecting a border wall with full deterrent capabilities.
"Letting the current situation continue is not an option. It's not fair to the residents of Gaza-adjacent communities and harms the security of the state," Katz said in the same meeting.
Earlier Sunday, Katz told Channel 12 that Israel's retaliatory attacks against Hamas infrastructure in Gaza should not be seen as the start of an operation like Protective Edge.
"We are not in a [military] operation. The activity we are engaged in now sends a message that Israel will not tolerate rockets, explosive devices, mortar shells or [incendiary] kites," he said.
Habayit Hayehudit leader and Education Minister Naftali Bennett took an aggressive line following the weekend's escalation in Gaza, saying that Israel must adopt aggressive tactics against Hamas and not ignore its attacks.
Bennet told Walla News that he and his party member Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked planned to object to any proposed cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that would allow Hamas to keep sending airborne incendiary devices over the Gaza border fence to spark fires on Israeli land.
"I said so a hundred days ago. I promised to eliminate the cells that release them. I said that if we take out two or three cells at the beginning, it will put an end to the matter and if we don't, ignoring it will lead to escalation. That's what happened," Bennett said.
Bennett said that after a hundred days of fires caused by Hamas' incendiary kites and balloons, he objected on principle to allowing the terrorist group to dictate the terms of a cease-fire.
Over 9,000 acres of fields, wooded area, and nature reserves have gone up in flames as a result of Palestinian arson terrorism Gaza, causing millions of dollars in direct damage, according to the Israel Tax Authority.
Bennett accused Lieberman of ignoring the latest terrorist tactic from Gaza, whereas he wanted to defeat it.
"I've been in the south [of Israel] a lot. I see what they're telling us – that they have the patience, we just need to do the work. I think this is the minimum we owe to the residents of Gaza-adjacent communities," Bennett told Walla.
Former Defense Minister Amir Peretz, a resident of Sderot, said on Army Radio that Israel would not, under any circumstances, find itself in a situation in which Israeli troops were forced to fire on children who are releasing burning kites over the border – "even if we see that they are being handled by terrorists."
Labor party leader Avi Gabbay aimed a personal barb at Netanyahu on Sunday for "sitting in his nice living room instead of visiting the residents of southern Israel."
"He [Netanyahu] hasn't been in Sderot since April 9. That's unthinkable – a hundred days they [terrorists] have been burning everything in sight, and the prime minister doesn't show up? He's lost his connection to the public," Gabbay said on Army Radio.
Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told Army Radio on Sunday that as long as terrorism was still present, Israel would "step up" its strikes.
Hanegbi said that as long as Hamas remained in control of the Gaza Strip, he did not foresee any chance of a peace deal.
