By Matan Tsuri and Yoav Zitun, JNS—
Dozens of fires have been documented in the Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip in recent weeks. The IDF has refrained from responding, and its current policy is to contain the situation.
Meanwhile, 25 fires started in these communities on Thursday, and an incendiary balloon even landed on the doorstep of a house in Eshkol Regional Council. There were no casualties.
Residents of the area are frustrated, both with the endless firebombs and the lack of a response from Israel.
“The situation is unbearable, there is a daily war going on and the State of Israel is silent,” said Itai Pachter of Kibbutz Kfar Aza. “The residents of the Gaza border area are prisoners in a security situation from which there is no escape.”
Pachter added: “For more than a year we have been living with the terrorism of the fires and the situation is very frustrating. People are already indifferent to the situation. It will not end well.”
Blue and White MK Alon Shuster, the former head of Shaar HaNegev Regional Council, said: “(Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu understands that the emotional and social strength of the residents of the area can withstand any test, and therefore, to him, finding a solution to the daily terror from the Gaza Strip is not urgent.
“As someone who serially refuses to take political action, he sees in Hamas a mirror image of himself, which allows him to maintain the current situation that is becoming impossible for the local residents.” Continue Reading….