Gaza border fence
Gaza border fenceTomer Neuberg/Flash 90

The heads of four regional councils in the Gaza Belt region on Sunday called on Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) and Prime Ministesr Binyamin Netanyahu to immediately advance stalled plans to build a barricade the entire length of the Gaza border.

The local leaders, who represent the Sha'ar Hanegev, Eshkol, Sedot Negev and Hof Ashkelon regional councils, made the call after around 40 Gazans broke through the border fence on Saturday night amid rioting on the Gaza side, in a very palpable security threat.

The Gazans were said to have been repelled by IDF forces, with four of them arrested in the incident.

"Immediately after Operation Protective Edge the IDF Chief of Staff approved the recommendation of the Southern Command, according to which the answer to blocking the infiltration from the Gaza Strip is by establishing a massive barrier fence the entire length of the border with Gaza," wrote the regional heads in their letter.

"This decision is on the table of the defense minister, and still has not been conducted," they complained.

"This fact is liable to inflict a very heavy cost. We call to carry out the decision to place a massive physical defense array."

The call for upping the border fence comes even as terrorists in Gaza have been busily rebuilding their underground terror tunnel networks, and recently have stepped up rocket attacks after working to upgrade their domestic missile arsenal.

The latest rocket attack came on Sunday night, and hit an open area of the Eshkol regional council.