Yamina party chairwoman Ayelet Shaked called on Israel’s political leaders to take a formal decision on how to counter the latest escalation by the Hamas terror organization, after the group fired three rockets into southern Israel Sunday evening.

“The situation in the south is serious,” Shaked told Channel 13 Monday morning. “I spoke with some of our people in Sderot yesterday, and I was there last week by the way, and they want the State of Israel to solve this issue.”

The former justice minister added that during her talks with residents of the Gaza border area, she explained the potential consequences of each option Israel could choose in responding to the latest attacks. Locals, Shaked said, understood the potential costs, but favored a decisive action vis-à-vis Gaza.

“I explained to them that there are basically two options: either to keep the current situation, with essentially what are mild policies, or to use decisive force, which would require a massive operation. It is something that is possible, the army knows what to do, and it is up to the political leadership.”

“Such an operation would require the evacuation of Gaza border towns, but the residents are prepared for that. They want it, actually. At the end of the day, it is up to the political leadership to make the decision. They need to decide whether to maintain the current light-handed policies, or to go with a large-scale operation to significantly weaken Hamas.”