Rockets are fired from Gaza toward Israel, May 5, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Suhaib Salem.

Following another rocket attack from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, officials in Israel’s south expressed frustration, exasperation and anger at their government for what one called the “bizarre ritual” of Hamas attacks and what they view as an ineffective Israeli response.

“Eleven rounds have ended with nothing,” head of the Eshkol Regional Council Gadi Yarkoni told the Israeli news site Mako.

“We can’t explain to residents the policy on the issue or its correctness,” he said, “because we don’t know what the policy is.”

Despite a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, a rocket was fired from Gaza toward Israel last night, following several days during which incendiary balloons set off multiple fires in the area. The IDF retaliated against a Hamas target in southern Gaza.

“It’s already been a year and a half of a permanent bizarre ritual,” Yarkoni said. “They fly arson balloons that set off fires, the IDF enacts sanctions, they respond with [rocket] fire, and we find ourselves in another round of violent and wearing escalation for 48 hours.”

“It seems that the system isn’t working and we expect a dramatic change in this reality,” he added.

Alon Schuster, an MK with the Blue and White party and a former head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, cited the Netanyahu government’s consent to the transfer of Qatari funds to Gaza and the prime minister’s legal woes, saying, “I don’t know how many dollars Netanyahu is transferring to Gaza this time in exchange for further quiet, but I do know … he prefers to deal with personal and legal issues than to deal with the root of the problem of Hamas terror from the Strip.”

Netanyahu, he charged, was not responding to the problem effectively because he knew the residents of the south are “stronger than any rocket.”

“He abandons the residents living near the [border] fence and leaves them to be the State of Israel’s body armor,” Schuster claimed, “instead of strengthening the PA and helping it return to the Gaza Strip and disarm it.”

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement, “The IDF will continue to act against attempts to harm Israeli citizens and sees Hamas as responsible for everything done in and from the Gaza Strip.”