"We have reached a red line. Israel needs to deal a heavy blow to Gaza and Hamas," Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at the culmination of a security assessment near the Gaza border Tuesday.
As clashes between Israel and Palestinian rioters in Gaza steadily escalate, Lieberman indicated that the remark was prompted specifically by events last weekend, when "in the morning we permitted the U.N. to bring four truckloads of fuel into Gaza, and in the evening we sustained an outburst of violence – unlike any violence I can remember in a long time."
Lieberman called on the "entire cabinet" to reach a decision on the matter, saying the escalating violence has dictated "the direction we must take in terms of security."
The Diplomatic-Security Cabinet was expected to convene on Wednesday to discuss Israel's steps in Gaza.
Referring to increasingly violent border protests and a months-long Palestinian campaign involving firebombs launched across the border into Israel on kites and balloons, Lieberman said that "we tried to resolve the problem nicely by cooperating with the international community, with U.N. bodies and with anyone who wanted. We have exhausted the options and now the time has come to make a decision."
"My position has been very clear, and I have only grown more resolute," Lieberman continued. "We need to deal a heavy blow. It's the only way to restore the reality to what it was before and lower the violence level down to zero."
"We've seen the declaration made by Hamas leaders, including [Hamas political bureau chief] Ismail Haniyeh, who said in no uncertain terms 'no fuel and no salaries can stop Hamas from perpetrating violence. Our aim is to lift the blockade.' But lifting the blockade means one thing only – complete freedom to bring weapons and Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters into the Gaza Strip, and that is something we will never agree to."
"We are not willing to tolerate the level of violence we have seen, week after week," Lieberman said.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli aircraft fired at a Palestinian terror cell as it launched firebomb balloons from the northern Gaza Strip into Israel. No casualties were reported.
The airstrike followed a similar incident on Monday, in which the IAF targeted a Hamas position in southern Gaza after Palestinian terrorists tried to plant explosives along the security fence on the border. One of the explosives exploded on the Gaza side of the fence. No injuries were reported, but the fence sustained some damage.
Meanwhile Monday, 32 Palestinians were wounded during a mass protest along the beach near the Israeli border.
Protesters threw flaming tires over the fence while fishing boats hoisted Palestinian flags. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and live fire.
Hamas has been staging border protests for the past six months in hopes of easing the crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade. It has intensified the protests in recent weeks as Egyptian-mediated cease-fire efforts have faltered.
The residents of southern Israeli communities, near the Gaza border, have been bearing the brunt of the Palestinian arson terror campaign. "Our biggest fear is for the children. We are teaching them, from a very young age, to duck under fire, and that balloons are not a toy anymore," said Eli Hangley, a resident of Kibbutz Zikim.
"I don't know why the government and the cabinet are taking their sweet time. Here, for us, it is anything but the usual routine. I prefer enduring a war for two or three weeks if it means this will end."
Sivan Katzir Gertel, who oversees the kibbutz welfare services and its emergency response team, noted that "over the last six months, there has been a lot of stress on the residents. We offer activities to alleviate stress."
"Last weekend, we weren't home and people sent us photos of the fire at the kibbutz. My son asked me, 'Mom, when we get home, will our house be burned down?' He was really upset about it," she said.
