On a Sunday morning tour of the Western Negev region near Gaza, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said that the Annapolis summit would be of little help in putting an end to Kassam rocket attacks on Jewish homes in the area.
"The Annapolis summit is intended to stabilize the situation in Judea and Samaria," he said, "because Gaza is already lost."
Netiv HaAsara, an agricultural community located just a few dozen meters from the northern barrier surrounding Gaza, is regularly shelled by the terrorist army in Gaza. Shaike Shaked, chairman of the agricultural committee in Netiv HaAsara, has a grim message for the Minister of Public Security.
"We cannot live like this. The community may collapse," he said.
Dichter said in response that he lives only 10 kilometers away, in Ashkelon, and is well aware of the situation. He said an IDF operation in Gaza is inevitable, but said Gaza needed to be brought under control, not taken over.
Dichter said that he is proposing a three-stage plan to put an end to the rocket attacks: "Activity against ongoing attacks, activity against Hamas' arming itself, and activity to harm its abilities… We have the ability to do this, unlike in Lebanon, where Hizbullah is part of a state; whereas Hamas in Gaza is defined as a hostile entity against whom we can act."
In rocket-battered Sderot, five cars went up in flames, a woman was treated for shock and a building was badly damaged in Kassam rocket attacks on the Sabbath. No one was wounded but some damage was reported.
Despite promises by PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas to rein in terror – part of its obligations under the much-touted U.S.-sponsored Road Map plan – the attacks from Gaza continue. Terrorists from the Fatah-sponsored Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, as well as the Syrian-backed Hamas gang and Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group have continued to launch attacks from the Hamas-controlled area.