Israel is considering executing a cabinet decision taken last month, according to which it would limit the supply of electricity and fuels, as well as merchandise transferred into the Gaza Strip, which has been declared a "hostile entity."
A committee headed by Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai will present its recommendations tomorrow (Thursday) to Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, who is expected to approve them.
The move comes following yesterday’s attack on Sderot, an Israeli town north of the Gaza Strip, perpetrated by the Islamic Jihad terror organization. Two Qassam rockets fell in the city, one hitting the roof of a residential building, causing the explosion of sun-heated water tanks. No casualties were reported, but a few people were evacuated to the hospital in a state of shock.
More than 1,000 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel since the beginning of the year, and more than 6,000 since the beginning of the Palestinian violence in September 2000.
The Gaza Strip was declared by Israel a "hostile entity" last month, after Hamas took control over it in June, in a six-day armed coup.
Ghazi Hammad, a former spokesman of Hamas, who resigned two months ago, said recently that gaining control over the Gaza Strip by force was a mistake.
The Palestinian territories are now effectively split into two, with Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority controlling the West Bank.