Former Defense Minister Prof. Moshe Arens said on Thursday that the current round of rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip stems from the fact that Israel did not “fully complete” the 2009 Operation Cast Lead in 2009
“We should not have withdrawn from Gaza without completely eliminating the Hamas government,” Arens told Arutz Sheva. “Since the end of the operation, dozens of tons of raw materials to manufacture weapons have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip. Hamas has strengthened and equipped itself with advanced war-related tools.
“We must launch another ground operation in Gaza and if we wait the situation will worsen,” added Arens. “Unilateral withdrawals are interpreted by the Palestinians as surrendering and that only encourages them to intensify the attacks.”