Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers of the cabinet toured towns surrounding the Gaza Strip on Monday, making new threats against those launching fire kites and balloon bombs.
The visit came amid growing criticism against the Israeli government that it has been ignoring Israeli residents in the surrounding Gaza area because they often vote for left-wing parties.
Netanyahu’s visit failed, however, to dampen the criticisms.
Former Israeli chief of staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz attacked the premier, accusing him of "granting immunity to Hamas leaders and doing everything to keep them in power."
“The political leadership in Israel is characterized by cowardice and a failure to take the necessary strategic decision neither for peace nor for war,” he said.
When this leadership was in the opposition it attacked the government of Ehud Olmert because it did not address terrorism in Gaza as it should, he continued.
“Netanyahu said back then that when he wins he will end Hamas’s governance. Ten years have now passed in office and he has not yet eliminated Hamas, instead, he is preserving its rule," Halutz further noted.
He also called on the government to decide whether it wants to radically solve the problem or not, explaining that if it wants to, it must follow a clear and public policy.
He offered the government two options, “either hold talks with Hamas and conclude a pacification agreement immediately, relieving the people from the burning fire, or fight Hamas, assassinate its leaders and end its rule.”
Residents of the Jewish towns around Gaza have protested against the government's inability to stop the firing of incendiary kites and balloon bombs, which have so far burned 33,000 dunums of agricultural land.
Netanyahu visited Sderot Monday and met with the heads of the local municipal councils of communities located in the Gaza border area.
During his visit to areas affected by incendiary kites and balloon bombs, the PM said he was confident that Israel would obliterate the threat.
“Just as we are now completing stopping the tunnels, and just as we are successfully acting to stop the mass assaults on the fences, so we have instructed the military to defeat and to stop the fire kite and balloon terror,” the premier said.
“It is important that Hamas understands that it faces an iron wall and this wall is comprised, first of all, of a determined government, a strong local leadership and a Zionist settlement, and that we will continue to strengthen it and – of course – the army,” which is part of this wall.
