Peretz told top defense officials at a meeting in Tel Aviv Sunday night that it is time for a firm response to the increasing barrages of rockets being fired at Israel from northern Gaza.
“I don’t think we should let the Islamic Jihad continue to party. There’s no reason to wait for someone to get hurt,” he said.
Two Kassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza at the southwestern Negev early Monday morning. Both landed in an open area, hurting no one and causing no damage. On the average, two rockets a day have been fired at Israel since the ceasefire went into effect.
Residents in Sderot were not as lucky Sunday night, however, when a Kassam rocket slammed into a house next to a daycare center. The explosion caused heavy damage and sent several people into shock.
The owner of the building, Adi Rafael, said it was the retaining wall between the nursery and the house that saved the children who were home at the time. Russian immigrant Arnold Amrionov, who lives in the house, said, “If anything like this happened there [in Russia], the government would wipe them out.”
Power to the neighborhood was also knocked out as the incoming missile hit a high tension wire on its way to smashing the building.
Monday's rocket attack brings the total to 55 rockets fired at Israel from northern Gaza since a supposed ceasefire went into effect on November 26th.
Four weeks ago, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas informed Olmert that all the terrorist factions had agreed to stop all hostile Gaza-based activities against Israel, including tunnel-digging, suicide bombers and Kassam rockets. Israel, in turn, removed its forces from Gaza and has not initiated anti-terror actions.
The two men met Saturday night for their first official meeting since each was elected to his respective position to begin to work on other ‘peace building’ measures. Olmert agreed to ease travel restrictions on PA Arabs, including the removal of more than 20 army checkpoints on key roads in Judea and Samaria. He also said he would transfer $100 million to Abbas for the payment of PA government workers' salaries, which have been held up since March. Olmert also agreed to increase the number of entry permits for PA Arabs into Israel's pre-1967 borders for work purposes.
Former IDF Ground Forces Commander Yiftach Ron-Tal told Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine Sunday that Gaza is becoming Hamas-land. The ceasefire is one-sided, he said, and noted that the rocket attacks on Israel can be reduced without a massive army maneuver.
"We are not dealing with the overall problem," he said. "The Gaza area is filling up with arms and rapidly is becoming Hamas-land on the model of Hizbullah in southern Lebanon." The former commander said the government should allow the IDF to target rocket launching cells while building an intelligence system that will enable it to reach the heart of the terrorist infrastructure.
“I don’t think we should let the Islamic Jihad continue to party. There’s no reason to wait for someone to get hurt,” he said.
Two Kassam rockets were fired from northern Gaza at the southwestern Negev early Monday morning. Both landed in an open area, hurting no one and causing no damage. On the average, two rockets a day have been fired at Israel since the ceasefire went into effect.
Residents in Sderot were not as lucky Sunday night, however, when a Kassam rocket slammed into a house next to a daycare center. The explosion caused heavy damage and sent several people into shock.
The owner of the building, Adi Rafael, said it was the retaining wall between the nursery and the house that saved the children who were home at the time. Russian immigrant Arnold Amrionov, who lives in the house, said, “If anything like this happened there [in Russia], the government would wipe them out.”
Power to the neighborhood was also knocked out as the incoming missile hit a high tension wire on its way to smashing the building.
Monday's rocket attack brings the total to 55 rockets fired at Israel from northern Gaza since a supposed ceasefire went into effect on November 26th.
Four weeks ago, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas informed Olmert that all the terrorist factions had agreed to stop all hostile Gaza-based activities against Israel, including tunnel-digging, suicide bombers and Kassam rockets. Israel, in turn, removed its forces from Gaza and has not initiated anti-terror actions.
The two men met Saturday night for their first official meeting since each was elected to his respective position to begin to work on other ‘peace building’ measures. Olmert agreed to ease travel restrictions on PA Arabs, including the removal of more than 20 army checkpoints on key roads in Judea and Samaria. He also said he would transfer $100 million to Abbas for the payment of PA government workers' salaries, which have been held up since March. Olmert also agreed to increase the number of entry permits for PA Arabs into Israel's pre-1967 borders for work purposes.
Former IDF Ground Forces Commander Yiftach Ron-Tal told Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine Sunday that Gaza is becoming Hamas-land. The ceasefire is one-sided, he said, and noted that the rocket attacks on Israel can be reduced without a massive army maneuver.
"We are not dealing with the overall problem," he said. "The Gaza area is filling up with arms and rapidly is becoming Hamas-land on the model of Hizbullah in southern Lebanon." The former commander said the government should allow the IDF to target rocket launching cells while building an intelligence system that will enable it to reach the heart of the terrorist infrastructure.