Damage from Gaza rocket fire inside Israel. Photo: screenshot via Mako.

A high level officer in the IDF says he expects the violence in Southern Israel and the Gaza strip to continue.

“It’s going to take more time, we do not see now how it ends,” a senior IDF officer with the country’s Southern Command told Channel 2 in Israel.

“I brought a duffel bag with clothes and toothpaste,” the officer said jokingly.

While the IDF already hit a weapons depot inside Gaza, the Israeli official told Channel 2 that more of Gaza’s infrastructure might be targeted and Israeli soldiers were prepared for intensified fighting.

An Israeli intelligence official told the Jerusalem Post that if Hamas and Egyptian authorities made a concerted effort to stop the rocket fire from Gaza, the violence could wane.

“It is possible for this round to end soon if Hamas and the Egyptians step up their involvement in influencing Islamic Jihad,” said the Israeli intelligence official.

Channel 2’s source said Egyptian authorities could be helpful but he did not think action would be taken fast enough to stop the rockets and the fighting would continue.

According to a Jerusalem Post report, Palestinian terror factions are split on whether or not to consider a ceasefire with Israel.  The current conflict has sent hundreds of rockets into Southern Israel, injuring women and children, and has killed 5 Palestinian civilians in range of terrorist cells targeted by the Israeli Air Force.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement on Monday noting the uptick in rocket fire into Israel during the past 24 hours.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the rocket fire from Gaza by terrorists into southern Israel in recent days, which has dramatically and dangerously escalated in the past day. We call on those responsible to take immediate action to stop these cowardly acts.”

A home video of a grad rocket attack on Ashdod is posted below.