Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes part in a meeting in southern Israel, July 3, 2019. Photo: Kobi Gideon / GPO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a Security Cabinet meeting at an IDF base near the border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, and also sat down with local municipal leaders.

“Our policy is clear: We want to restore the calm, but at the same time we are also prepared for a wide-ranging military campaign, if it proves necessary,” Netanyahu said. “These are my instructions to the IDF.”

Several local municipal leaders boycotted the meeting with Netanyahu, out of frustration over what they view as a conciliatory government policy toward Hamas, which rules Gaza.

Since a truce went into effect last week, the number of incendiary balloons being launched from Gaza into southern Israel has dropped dramatically, but not to zero. Fires caused by such balloons have caused millions of shekels of damage to the agricultural sector over the past year and a half.

“I regret that some of the council heads who always say that we do not listen to them left precisely when we came to listen to them, but we will do what is necessary for everyone,” Netanyahu said.