Absorption Minister Ze’ev Boim urged cabinet ministers at the weekly Sunday morning meeting to change the government’s strategy on response to Kassam rocket attacks from Gaza.

“I think we need to consider expanding our operations in Gaza,” said Boim. “We need to change the restraint policy. Still, I wouldn’t recommend occupying all of Gaza.”

Since November, the IDF has maintained a “hands off” policy on responding to terrorists raining Kassam rockets on Jewish communities in the western Negev. In the past few weeks, IDF soldiers were allowed to shoot at terrorists who were identified as clearly being in the process of launching a rocket or leaving a launch site immediately following an attack.

Israel withdrew all its troops from Gaza at the end of November in accordance with an agreement signed by the Olmert administration with Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah terror leader Mahmoud Abbas.