Israeli chief warns Gaza violence could escalate

REPEATED rocket fire from Gaza will push Israel into taking “aggressive action in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli chief of staff warned MPs.

“One round after another; we shall in the end need to move to broader, more aggressive action in the Gaza Strip,” Benny Gantz told the committee on foreign affairs and defence. Hours after he spoke, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets into southern Israel, damaging a farm outbuilding but causing no casualties, Israeli police said.

Low-level unrest has rumbled on over the last two weeks but it has not deteriorated into all-out fighting as it did on October 29-30 when tit-for-tat violence left 12 Palestinian militants and an Israeli civilian dead.

Militant groups say they are observing an Egyptian-brokered truce agreement, but during the last two weeks rockets have still landed in southern Israel and the army has responded with air strikes, which have killed five Palestinians and injured at least 11.

“Every few months, we have to go back for another round of fighting” to stamp out rocket fire, Gantz later told reporters at a briefing.

“It would be in Israel’s best interest to shorten the duration of future rounds of fighting through intelligence, through force and through ongoing activity.”

Israel has always laid responsibility for the rocket fire at the door of Gaza’s Hamas rulers, although officials acknowledge it is not Hamas militants who are behind the fire. Both the political and defence establishment said they do not believe Hamas is interested in escalating the situation with Israel at this stage.