WarSclerotic

Israel’s Reality in the Face of Gaza Terror – YouTube.

( 10:30 AM – Sirens in Ashkelon and Ashdod. – JW )

( 10:45 – Army radio: 2 Gaza launched rockets land outside of Ashkelon, no injuries. – JW )

–

‘The moment Iran goes nuclear, the Saudis will buy the bomb from Pakistan’ – Jerusalem Post.

(It’s worse than that. The Saudis won’t wait till Iran actually gets the bomb or tests a nuclear device. If Iran becomes a nuclear threshold state with the ability to breakout in a matter of weeks the Saudis will try to get at least the same capabilities. – Artaxes)

Director of Political-Military Affairs for the Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, warns Iran could set off nuclear arms race in Arab world.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
03/12/2014 09:09

As soon as Iran gets a nuclear bomb, Egypt will develop its own nuclear weapon, and Saudi Arabia will purchase one from Pakistan, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, director of political-military affairs at the Defense Ministry, warned on Tuesday.

Speaking at a conference held by the Institute for Policy and Strategy, at IDC Herzliya, Gilad said, “The Arabs will not tolerate the Persians having the bomb. From the moment the Iranians get the bomb, the Egyptians have the resources, capability and know-how to achieve nuclear capabilities, and the Saudis will run to buy the bomb from the Pakistanis with a ‘member’s discount.'”

Iran is trying to get nuclear weapons, and won’t give up on this goal in talks with the powers, Gilad cautioned.

The Islamic Republic will not forfeit “any essential component in its quest for nuclear capabilities. This is true even if it agrees to reduce uranium enrichment for tactical needs, and maintaining the stability of the regime there. I’m disturbed that they [the international community] are going for an interim agreement mechanism. After six months, there will be another six months, and then there will be cracks in the wall of sanctions,” he added.

Israel has exercised a great deal of deterrent power, Gilad stated.

“The sense among our rivals is that we can deal with every aggregate of strategic threats,” he said.

The good news in the region, Gilad said, is that in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood had been beaten back by Field Marshal Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, meaning that a ring of Islamist powers has not formed around Israel.

The Egyptians have managed to block “between 90 to 95 percent of [smuggling] tunnels to Gaza, and are fighting a determined war against al-Qaida in Sinai,” Gilad said.

“In Turkey, [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan has been substantially weakened, and returned to his natural dimensions. The stability of the Hashemite Kingdom in Jordan is an optimistic point of light,” Gilad observed.

Turning his sights to Syria, Gilad said, “there is no military threat to the north. The Russians, the Iranians and Hezbollah allow the Assad regime to survive with artificial life-support. There is not a Syrian state, but there is a regime. And there’s a difficult humanitarian problem. I’d like to officially declare Syria dead, but the date of the funeral is not yet known.”

Knesset passes controversial Referendum Law, YnetNews, March 12, 2014

(Now PM Netanyahu can claim something approaching, but less than, Abbas’ lack of authority. — DM)

New Basic Law calls for popular vote on any proposed territorial concessions reached during negotiations with Palestinians.

Not unlike the votes on the haredi draft law and the governance act, the controversial Referendum Law also passed in second and third reading Wednesday with the Knesset plenum half empty.

The new law, passed with 68 MKs in favor and none against, ensures that Israeli citizens can vote on any territorial concessions negotiated during peace talks.

The plenum, composed solely of members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, passed the bill into law despite the heavy objections of the opposition, who had demanded longer discussions on the newly-minted Referendum Law – one of three hot-button pieces of legislation passed this week.

The prime minister addressed the Knesset plenum before the vote and expressed his long-time support for the first Basic Law to be added to the books in 22 years. He said he was proud that this current coalition was responsible for finally approving the legislation.

Netanyahu said passing the law “is the right, just, and democratic thing, (it is) the only way to preserve peace among ourselves.”

The prime minister said that it was important for Israeli citizens to get a say in any future territorial concessions: “A major diplomatic decision cannot be made without the nation.”

The new Basic Law: Referendum, however, does not apply to Judea and Samaria, the two biblical lands which compose the West Bank, as the legislation only affects concessions of “sovereign land” like East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.

The law could also be circumvented if three-quarters of the Knesset approve the territorial concessions.

The vote marks the end of a contentious week in the Israeli parliament, as the Basic Law: Referendum is the last of the three controversial bills presented by the coalition for approval during the winter session.Earlier in the day, a near-deserted Knesset approved the haredi enlistment law, which followed the Tuesday approval of the Governance Act.

Political maneuvers by the governing coalition at the beginning of the week – exposed by Ynet – had led the opposition to boycott the plenum in protest of what they defined as anti-democratic measures.

IAF Strikes Gaza After Missile Onslaught – Defense/Security – News – Israel National News.

Israel strikes 29 different Islamic Jihad and Hamas targets; no casualties reported yet.

IAF airstrike in Gaza (archive)

The Israeli Air Force struck 29 terror targets belonging to Islamic Jihad and Hamas in Gaza on Wednesday evening as retaliation for firing a barrage of over 60 rockets on Jewish communities in southern Israel, the IDF announced Wednesday.

Palestinian Arab media is reporting now that the IAF are repeatedly slamming Islamic Jihad posts in Rafah, Khan Younis, Deir al – Balah, Beit Lahiya in north Gaza and another target in the center. Hamas’s military wing is also being targeted. No casualties have been reported yet.

The entire operation, which was launched at 10 pm Wednesday Israel time, was quick – and deadly. The IDF announcement stating that the operation focused on the 29 targets also noted just 45 minutes after the fact that all IAF pilots had returned safely to base after completing their mission.

IDF tanks fired at terror targets from the border earlier Wednesday, after Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned that the barrage would not go unnoticed. Of the three targets eliminated, two were in southern Gaza and one was in the North.

“We will not ignore the barrage of rocket fire tonight,” Ya’alon stated. “We will not allow Islamic Jihad or any other entity in the Gaza Strip to disrupt the lives of Israeli citizens.”

Ya’alon continued: “when there is no quiet in the south, we will not allow Gaza to have quiet either – to make Islamic Jihad terrorists regret their rocket fire.”

More to follow.

Netanyahu vows ‘lots of noise in Gaza’ if no quiet for Israel’s south | The Times of Israel.

( IAF attacking targets in Gaza now.   22:15 via Twitter.  – JW )

After Islamic Jihad rocket barrage, IDF general says there’ll be ‘no restraint’; Cameron condemns ‘barbaric’ attacks; Hamas promises ‘resistance’

By Adiv Sterman March 12, 2014, 9:00 pm

Israelis stand near a hole caused by a rocket fired from the Gaza strip into the southern city of Sderot on Wednesday, March 12, 2014 (photo credit: Flash90)

Israel warned Wednesday night that it would hit back hard at Gaza terror groups, after Islamic Jihad fired more than 50 rockets at southern Israel in the heaviest attack since 2012.

Although the rocket fire subsided late in the evening, Israel raised its security alert in the south, and residents in southern Israel were told to stay within 15 seconds of rooms reinforced against rockets, amid indications that the dramatically escalated new round of confrontation was not over.

At least two rockets fell in residential areas, one of them causing light damage in Sderot. There were no direct injuries, but a Sderot woman, aged 57, was lightly hurt when running for cover.

“If there is no quiet in our south, no quiet for the residents of Israel, there will be noise, lots of noise in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a joint press conference with Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron.

Israel later closed all border crossings into the Strip and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon canceled all visitation rights for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, apparently a punitive measure.

Earlier, Ya’alon said Israel would not allow the attacks to pass without a response. “We will not let Islamic Jihad or anybody else in Gaza disrupt the life of Israel’s citizens,” Ya’alon said. “When it’s not quiet in southern Israel, it won’t be quiet in Gaza — so that the terrorists will regret their rocket fire.” Ya’alon said Israel held Hamas responsible for the rocket fire since it rules Gaza, “and if it can’t ensure quiet it will pay a price.”

The IDF’s Southern Command chief, Sami Turgeman, said the army had “no intention of showing restraint.”

Security chiefs held emergency consultations in early evening, and then presented the political leadership with “a range of options,” military sources said.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman demanded that Israel re-invade Gaza, from which it withdrew unilaterally in 2005, but Netanyahu did not back the idea when asked about it at his press conference with Cameron.

Cameron condemned the rocket attacks and earlier, during talks with President Shimon Peres, called them barbaric. “Let me absolutely clear about these attacks from Gaza, we condemn them completely,” Cameron said. “They are a reminder once again of the importance of maintaining and securing Israel’s future and the security threats you face, and you have Britain’s support in facing those security threats.”

The visiting British prime minister noted that “these attacks are completely indiscriminate, aimed at civilian populations and that is a demonstration of how barbaric they are.” And he stressed that “there is no violent route to statehood” for the Palestinians.

British Prime Minister David Cameron signs the visitors book at the President’s Residence while President Shimon Peres looks on, March 12, 2014 (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Peres said Israel could not “behave as though nothing happened, and I’m sure the government will take the necessary steps to stop it. Hamas must understand that… we shall not accept Gaza as a center of terror, we cannot permit it. It’s not just a matter of wounded or killed; it’s a million and a half people who won’t have security or a night’s sleep. We’d clearly like to have peace but we must stop the terror.”

In Gaza, Hamas officials said they would hold Israel responsible for any “escalation,” and that IDF action would be met with fierce resistance.

“We hold the occupation responsible, we warn of the consequences of any escalation and we reiterate that resistance is the right of the Palestinian people to defend itself,” Ihab al-Ghassin, a Hamas spokesman, said.

Dozens of rockets as well as mortar rounds were fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israeli towns on Wednesday afternoon. In an initial response hours later, the IDF fired tank shells at what it termed “terror targets” in the Strip

Israel put the number of rockets at over 60, and Islamic Jihad, which took responsibility for the attacks, said it had fired 90 rockets. The organization said in a statement that it had launched an ongoing “military operation,” which it termed “Breaking the Silence.”

No Israeli casualties were reported in what was the largest attack from the Strip since Operation Pillar of Defense in late 2012.

A trail of smoke from rockets fired by Palestinians from Gaza toward Israel is seen above Gaza City on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. (photo credit: AP/Adel Hana)

Most of the rockets were reported to have fallen in open areas, though at least one rocket landed in a residential neighborhood in Sderot. Damage was reported at two impact sites.

IAF jets were reportedly flying over the Strip, apparently in an effort to thwart further rocket launches, and tanks fired shells at several targets in the coastal territory.

Palestinian security agencies in the Strip evacuated their headquarters for fear of Israeli reprisal, Sky News reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press at southern port of Eilat, Monday, March 10, 2014, as Israel displayed advanced M-302 rockets that were unloaded from the Panamanian-flagged Klos-C vessel (photo credit: AFP/ Jack Guez)

Islamic Jihad indicated that the attack was in retaliation for the Tuesday killing at the hands of the IDF of three Islamic Jihad operatives as they prepared to fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

“The Al-Quds Brigades responded to (Israeli) aggression with a volley of rockets,” the group said.

Immediately following the rocket attack, Netanyahu said Israel would forcefully respond to any threat on its citizens.

“It seems that the rocket fire came in response to our counter-terrorism operations yesterday,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to thwart and harm those who wish to harm us, and we will act against them with great intensity.

“Last year, the number of rockets fired from Gaza was the lowest in a decade, but we will not settle for that. We will continue to ensure the security of Israeli citizens in the south and throughout the country.”

Last week, Israel intercepted what it said was an Iranian shipment of rockets intended for terror groups in Gaza. Israeli military sources said the arms, including 409 rockets, were destined for Islamic Jihad.

AFP and Avi Issacharoff contributed to this report.

How Israel Lost a Media War – The Weekly Standard.

But blocked an Iranian information campaign.

2:10 PM, Mar 11, 2014 • By LEE SMITH

If Israel believed that exposing an Iranian arms transfer to terrorists in Gaza was a public relations coup that might make the White House think twice about making a deal with the regime in Tehran over its nuclear weapons program, then Jerusalem has fundamentally misread the Obama administration. Perhaps just as ominously, it shows that the government of Israel doesn’t understand the new media environment.

Last week Israeli naval commandos boarded the Panamanian-flagged Klos C in the Red Sea to interdict the transfer of medium-ranger rockets that may have constituted, in the words of one Israeli journalist, a “tie-breaker.” The weapons, wrote Ron Ben-Yishai, were intended to overload and neutralize Israel’s rocket and missile defense system in the event Iran initiates a “high-trajectory offensive on Israel through its messengers: Hezbollah, Syria and the Gazans.”

In other words, the Klos C affair wasn’t just about moving arms to terrorists. Rather it’s part of the strategic missile campaign that Iran embarked on after Hezbollah’s 2006 war with Israel. In arming its clients on Israel’s borders (Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime), Tehran seeks to change the balance of regional power by deterring Israel from striking its nuclear weapons facilities.

(I can’t add much to this. — DM)

Trust the untrustworthy, believe the incredible and wear asbestos lined hip boots. All will be cool. Thus spake P5+1.

Off Topic: Erol Araf: The man who saved the world – National Post.

Erol Araf, National Post | March 12, 2014 | Last Updated: Mar 11 4:14 PM ET

(Although not directly related to the Iran/Israel conflict this article reminds us why more nukes in the MidEast is such a bad idea.
The more countries with nukes, the higher the likelyhood that a nuclear war is launched just by accident.
This article shows drastically how close the world came to nuclear Armageddon due to technical failure. – Artaxes)

Thirty one years ago, in the midst of growing East-West tensions in Europe, a Russian scientist named Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov saved the world from nuclear annihilation.

On Sept. 26, 1983, a Russian Oko early warning satellite in geosynchronous orbit over U.S. missile silos malfunctioned and falsely reported that the United States had launched several intercontinental ballistic missiles.

It was 12:13 a.m. in the Kaluga Oblast, to the southwest of Moscow. Petrov, an officer of the Soviet Air Defense Forces, was stationed at the Serpukhov-15 base there. He had to make an immediate decision: Either he would inform his superiors or he would try to verify the accuracy of the warning.

He was in a terrible bind. Petrov knew that the Soviet strategy called for immediate retaliation on the first warnings of a launch. Drenched in perspiration and “my heart in my mouth,” as he was to recall later, he hesitated. The idea of the U.S. launching only a few missiles made no strategic sense whatsoever. Russian military doctrine stated that the Americans would launch a massive first strike aimed at Soviet nuclear bases, with the objective of destroying the bulk of the U.S.S.R.’s missile forces, thus minimizing Soviet retaliation. But there were only a few missiles reported incoming. Where were the rest?

As Petrov considered the unusual tactics of this apparent attack, new warnings blared throughout the base. The huge electronic board in the command centre indicated that additional missiles had been launched at 12:22 a.m.

But still not a full strike.

Petrov considered what the second apparent volley of launches could mean. Tensions had recently been high. The West was alarmed by the deployment of the Soviet Union’s new submarine-launched SS-N-20 ballistic missiles. And the Soviets had, only days earlier, shot down a Korean passenger plane that had strayed into Soviet airspace. He knew it was possible that the U.S. was launching a decapitating strike aimed at Moscow, in the hopes of crippling the Soviet command and control systems, and killing its senior military and political leadership, while holding most of its missile forces in reserve to deter any massive Soviet retaliation.

Petrov had studied such a scenario: During the height of the Cold War, such a limited surprise attack was considered very plausible. There might be logic to this madness after all, he reasoned: For whatever reason, the Americans may have chosen that morning to begin, and perhaps win, a Third World War.

The number of missiles ultimately made no difference. Petrov had been trained to expect exactly the kind of attack that was currently playing out on his screen. He had already delayed several minutes — minutes that could prove to be the difference between a crushing American victory or a devastating Soviet counterattack.

It was now 12:24 a.m — 11 minutes since the first launch warning. That meant the missiles — if they had indeed been launched — had only 22 minutes of flight time left before reaching their targets and delivering their thermonuclear payloads. Petrov’s colleagues’ eyes were transfixed on him and the secure phone on his desk. The infernal sirens urged him into action. The blips on his screen indicated that U.S. missiles were moving relentlessly toward their targets at Mach 23, or 24,100 kilometers per hour.

For a second, Petrov thought that this might be a new drill, but dismissed that idea — that hope — quickly. Images of loved ones flashed through his mind; he surprised that it was just like he’d always heard. When facing death, all the moments in one’s life did flash before your eyes.

At 12:27 a.m., 14 minutes after the first alarm, he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was so afraid he thought he might be sick to his stomach. But he knew that the reliability of his early warning systems had been questioned, and that there had been false alarms in the past. The Oko satellite system was brand new and had been hobbled with technical problems since its inception. Would his superiors, once alerted, take into consideration these previous malfunctions before ordering the Soviet Union’s own missiles fired at their targets in North America? Should he wait for Soviet Union’s land-based radars to confirm the threat? If so, his country would have only minutes to respond to the attack.

Petrov knew that the Soviets had repeatedly tested their own response times. At 12:29 a.m., 15 minutes after the warning and with 17 minutes left before impact, he decided that waiting for land-based radar confirmation would still leave the U.S.S.R. with enough time to launch an all-out counterattack. It would be close — but he believed it would not be too. So Petrov made the decision that saved the world: He didn’t pick up the phone. He didn’t report that an attack was in progress. He just waited.

After a tense few minutes, his judgment was proven correct. The land-based radars showed no incoming missiles. The U.S. had not fired. There was no attack in progress. It was just another Oko glitch.

According PBS’s science series NOVA, this close encounter of the nuclear kind was due to a design flaw in the Soviet early warning system which, unlike its U.S. counterpart, did not look “down” on the surface, but looked instead at the edge of the Earth. Accordingly, naturally occurring phenomena such as a rare alignment of sunlight and high-altitude clouds could trigger false alarms. This is precisely what happened on that autumn day.

What Petrov did not know was that in the fall of 1983, in the midst of a growing East-West crisis, the Soviet leadership and the KGB had convinced themselves that a NATO surprise attack may have been imminent. They were wrong, a victim of false intelligence, bad analysis and outright paranoia. But senior Soviet leaders believed — truly believed — that a surprise attack was imminent, and had even taken some steps to prepare for it (the higher Soviet military readiness partially explained the shooting down of the Korean passenger jet). Had Petrov phoned in a report of missiles leaving U.S. silos, it’s probable — almost certain — that the Soviets would have launched without waiting for the land-based radar reports. With their worst suspicions confirmed, there’s every reason to believe they would have let their missiles fly.

It didn’t happen, of course. The world lived another day, and in due time, the Soviet Union came crashing down. As the West and East again play high stakes games of diplomacy and intrigue, this time over the unfolding crisis in Ukraine, it’s worth remembering this era in our history. Things may seem bad now — for many in Ukraine, things are bad. But the world no longer stands on the brink of an apocalypse that only one man’s cool head and sound judgment prevented.

How the Ukraine crisis may complicate Iran nuclear talks – The Telegraph.

(The foreign policy of Mr. Hope And Change has truly become a disaster.
If the US acts tough on Russia the Iran deal is in danger.
If the US doesn’t act tough on Russia, Iran will be emboldened in the belief that failure to implement any potential deal won’t have any serious consequences.
If the US ignores Iran’s continued support and use of terrorism the ‘MidEast peace plan’ is in danger.
If the US insist that Iran stops its support of terrorism the Iran deal is in danger.
What a mess. There is only one way to solve this.
Act tough against Russia, insist that Iran stops supporting and using terrorism AND most importantly make the military option credible again by making absolutely clear declarations that the US will act militarily on Iran OR by making absolutely clear declarations that the US fully supports Israel’s military option.
– Artaxes)

By David Blair World Last updated: March 11th, 2014

Will the new confrontation between Russia and America over Ukraine affect the chances of settling that hardy perennial on the world stage, namely the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme? The short answer is that it could – and not for the better.

The interim agreement constraining Iran’s nuclear ambitions runs out on July 20. The negotiations on a final deal to resolve the issue once and for all are now under way.

Remember that talks with Iran are handled by the “P5 plus 1” contact group, consisting of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany. Keeping these six countries united behind a common negotiating position towards Iran is vital. But if four members of the group – America, Britain, France and Germany – are busily engaged in imposing sanctions on another member – Russia – then that unity would be at risk.

If so, Iran might feel under less pressure to make the concessions needed for a final agreement. Worse, Iran may even feel able to walk away from the negotiations, safe in the knowledge that Russia would not allow its Western rivals from responding with tougher sanctions.

Gary Samore, formerly the White House coordinator for arms control, fears that the Ukraine crisis will turn into a complicating factor for the Iran talks. Speaking in London on Monday, he predicted that if America and its allies line up to impose sanctions of whatever kind on Russia, that would “lead to at least the appearance, if not the reality, of disarray within the P5 plus 1”. Consequently, Iran may feel “more able to walk away from the nuclear negotiations”.

If relations between America and the Kremlin were to break down completely, Russia would have several options for hitting back. Back in 2010, the Kremlin cancelled the sale of the S300 air defence system to Iran, despite having pocketed the money. If Russia really wants to cause trouble, it could choose to revive that agreement and deliver the S300.

Iran’s oil exports are constrained by US and EU financial sanctions. But suppose Russia imported Iranian crude and then sold and marketed the oil itself, passing the revenue to Tehran in return for a cut? Then Russia could help Iran to evade the toughest sanctions.

So a crisis in US-Russian relations over Ukraine would have far-reaching consequences, spreading well beyond the region where the confrontation takes place. The nuclear talks with Iran may soon become even more complicated.

IDF tanks attack terror targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire – Israel News, Ynetnews.

( Game on!  Say a prayer for our young soldiers in harm’s way.  May god keep them safe and bring them home to their families. – JW )

Islamic Jihad fires dozens of rockets at cities and towns in southern Israel in response to death of 3 of their men in IAF strike. Residents were asked to stay in their shelters.

Ynet, Ynetnews

IDF tanks fired at terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip Wednesday evening, on in its north and another in its south, in responds to the barrage of at least 60 rockets fired at the Israeli south earlier.

Residents in the Beit Hanoun area of Gaza said they saw an Israeli strike hit a rocket launcher squad.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the rocket fire, but a 57-year-old woman from Sderot was lightly injured while running to take cover. The Iron Dome missile-defense system intercepted at least three rockets over Sderot.

This was the heaviest barrage of rockets fired from the Strip since the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense.

The rockets were fired from both the north of the Strip and its south. Most of the rockets fell in open fields, at least eight fell inside southern communities. The Eshkol Regional Council reported on at least 15 rockets that fell in its area, including one that fell inside one of the towns but did not explode.

Rocket that fell in Sderot (Photo: Mattan Tzuri)

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said one rocket exploded near a gas station and another near a public library.

The Islamic Jihad’s military wing claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, saying its a response to the death of three of their men, who were killed Tuesday in an IAF strike after firing mortar shells at IDF troops. Another Gaza militant group, the Popular Resistance Committees, said they fired several rockets as well.

“The Al-Quds Brigades responded to aggression by a salvo of rockets,” a statement from the Islamic Jihad said.

“The Al-Quds Brigades will not break the truce (with Israel), but will retain the right to respond to the Zionist aggression at the right time and the right place,” spokesman Abu Ahmad said.

The Islamic Jihad, that said it fired 70 rockets, took advantage of the stormy weather when the IDF’s ability to identify and intercept rocket fire is lower.

Rocket that fell in Kfar Aza (Photo: Nili and Ze’ev Trechtman)

Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, who is currently in the United States, was receiving constant updates from Deputy Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot.

‘Code Red’ sirens were heard in throughout the western Negev communities, including Sderot, Netivot and in the Shaar HaNegev and Sdot Negev Regional Councils.

Security forces were scanning the area for rockets, and the level of alert has been raised. Residents in the area were instructed to stay in their shelters and secure rooms.

“It appears that a rocket salvo came in response to the preventative IAF strike yesterday. we will continue stopping attacks and hitting those who wish to harm us, and will act against them with full force,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Facebook shortly after the rockets barrage.

“The number of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip in the last year has been the lowest in a decade, but this is not enough for us. We will continue acting to ensure the security of the people of Israel both in the south and across the country,” he added.

Speaking to Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, Netanyahu promised to “strike terror as hard as demanded in order to restore calm to the south.”

“I was helping deliver Purim treat baskets to IDF soldiers serving on the Gaza border when I heard about the rocket attack,” Davidi told Ynet, standing where one of the rockets hit his city.

Mattan Tzuri, Yoav Zitun, Ilana Curiel, Elior Levy, Michal Margalit, Attila Somfalvi and AP contributed to this report.