Illustration: IDF helicopter firing missile
Illustration: IDF helicopter firing missileFlash 90

Israel plans to “contain” the latest murder perpetrated by the Hamas-run Gaza terror entity, according to reports on Voice of Israel public radio.

A civilian worker for the IDF, 22 year-old Salah Shukri Abu Latyef was shot fatally Tuesday by a sniper near Gaza, where he was working on fixing the security fence. However, a senior military source told the radio station that the IDF “intends to contain the terror attack and not escalate the situation.” The source said that the incident is a serious one, seeing as it involves the first killing of an Israeli by Gazans since the end of operation Pillar of Defense last year.

The message delivered to Hamas is that the IDF “is weighing its next steps,” he said. Agriculturalists in the region have been told to stay at least one kilometer (3,000 feet) away from the Gaza security fence, and to use roads that avoid the area near the fence.

Speaking on Voice of Israel, Bennett appeared to deliver a similar message. He said that while the South would remain quiet for now – if the terror wave continues, there will be no quiet on the Arab side, either. He also noted that the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority is engaged in incitement to terror, naming its squares for suicide bombers and granting stipends to jailed terrorists.

Bennett pointed out that the latest terror wave began when the negotiations with the PA were recently revived. “Last year there were no diplomatic negotiations,” he said, “and it was the quietest year in the last 35 years.”

Likud-Beytenu MK Tzahi Hanegbi responded by accusing Bennett of “exaggeration.” He said that the security establishment estimates that Hamas does not want to escalate the situation and stressed that Israel maintains its readiness while continuing to make a great effort to prove its readiness to make peace.

MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said that the negotiations with the PA are a strategic Israeli interest and that efforts to advance them must not be eased, even as Israel deals strongly with terror organizations.

MK Nisan Slomiansky (Jewish Home) said that releasing more terrorist murderers next week is “an unparalleled absurdity” and that the recent spate of terror proves this.

“Day after day,” he added, “the residents of Israel face mortal danger, and the state continues to blindly submit to the demands made by the PA and the Americans.”

"We must put an end to this farce," Slomiansky continued, calling for an end to prisoner releases during negotiations. "As long as the waves of terror against Israel continue, we must not release a single terrorist."