‘We are preparing for a wide-ranging operation in Gaza,’ Netanyahu tells community leaders

In a meeting with regional council heads, the prime minister said that Israel was “prepared for any scenario,” including “a wide-ranging operation.”

By World Israel News Staff

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with a group of leaders from communities near the Gaza border.

Netanyahu held the meeting amid an uptick in rocket attacks from the coastal enclave and the return of arson terror via airborne incendiary devices sent into Israel using balloons and kites.

According to a statement released by the premiere’s office, “Prime Minister Netanyahu updated the council heads on the latest developments regarding Gaza and told them that Israel was prepared for any scenario, including a wide-ranging operation. The Prime Minister praised the steadfastness of the residents of the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip.”

While Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza, has attempted to publicize its willingness to decrease arson terror, it appears to lack meaningful control over Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the faction suspected of launching the most recent barrages of rockets at Israel.

Both groups are bankrolled by Iran, which openly seeks Israel’s destruction.

Among the officials who attended the meeting on Sunday with Netanyahu were Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, Eshkol Regional Council Chairman Gadi Yarkoni, Ashkelon Coast Regional Council Chairman Itamar Revivo, Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council Chairman Ofir Levenstein and Sdot Negev Regional Council Chairman Tamir Idan.

“For the last two years, we have been in a war that can’t be ignored any longer,” said the group of Gaza belt leaders after the meeting, Israel Hayom reported.

“In the last month alone, we have been hit with dozens of rockets and at the same time terrorist balloons from the Gaza Strip are becoming more and more dangerous,” they continued.

“[This] reality … cannot continue to exist,” they concluded.

The statement from Netanyahu’s office also mentioned “expedited economic development and the establishment of industrial and employment zones for the communities in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip, and to evaluate the establishment of a development authority – within the PMO – for the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip.”