WarSclerotic

After concluding a five-hour meeting, the Security Cabinet decided Thursday to change its handling of the rampant violence on the Gaza border fence and the kite terrorism, implying that the rules of the game have changed.Nevertheless, the political echelon still views reaching a ceasefire agreement with the mediation of Egypt and UN envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov as an option.

The Cabinet—which convened following a rocket attack launched from Gaza on a Be’er Sheva home and in the sea off the shores of a city in central Israel—instructed the IDF to gradually exacerbate its retaliatory actions to violence along the security fence and to demonstrate a zero-tolerance approach.

The new policy will come into effect on Friday, during which Hamas-led mass riots are expected on the border.

During the overnight meeting, the military brass presented two operational plans to tackle the violent border clashes and to handle the incendiary balloons launched from the strip into Israel, with the first being air strikes against terror targets in the strip, while the second is containment of the violence while gradually Intensifying the army’s response to breaching attempts and launching of incendiary balloons.

Nevertheless, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested implementing a more aggressive approach against Hamas, as could have been expected in light of his remarks over the past few days.

Lieberman’s plan was rejected.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Cabinet ministers no to speak with the media about the decisions taken at the meeting.

Construction Mnister Yoav Galant addressed the recent escalation Gaza, saying, “I’m not going to talk about decision taken by the Cabinet. However, I can explicitly say that the rules of the game are about to change.

“We won’t accept violence on the Gaza border fence and the continuation of the kite terrorism,” Galant concluded.