Prime Minster Ehud Olmert vowed Sunday morning that Israel would respond to the most recent rocket fire by Gaza terrorists until they "understand that Israel will not accept these attacks."
The statement came less than a day after 10 rockets were fired at southern Israeli communities from Gaza. Three of the projectiles, which struck the coastal city of Ashkelon, were advanced Grad missiles that required the force of two tractors in order to pull them from the ground, where they embedded themselves upon landing.
One of the rockets struck an elementary school, severely damaging the structure. Miraculously, no one was injured, as the building was closed at the time due to the Sabbath.
The Eshkol and Sdot Negev regions were struck by shorter-range Kassam rockets as well.
Olmert vowed "policies according to which, should the rocket fire continue, we will respond in a serious, painful, strong, and uncompromising way." He commented that "Hamas is trying to recover from the stiff blow they suffered during Operation Cast Lead in the only way they know how -- through the use of terror."
The prime minister said Israel's response would not be tailored "to the expectations of the terrorists." He added that a wide range of actions would be implemented "until total quiet is restored to the South."
The three-week Operation Cast Lead was launched on December 27 specifically to meet that goal. However, after achieving initial success and a major slowdown in rocket attacks on the western Negev, the government declared a unilateral ceasefire on January 18. Israel withdrew its military forces from Gaza completely by January 20, hours before newly-elected U.S. President Barack Obama was sworn into office.
The cabinet also approved during its weekly Sunday morning meeting the addition of NIS 2.5 billion for the defense budget. Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On tried but failed to persuade the ministers that such a measure was unnecessary, saying the current budget could cover the additional defense costs.