A Israeli air strike on Gaza Strip terror facilities Sunday failed to stop renewed Palestinian rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled territory. Palestinians launched rockets at Israeli civilians on Saturday and again on Monday, and now Israeli officials are warning that the Jewish state may need to take further action to halt the sustained barrages:

“We will not permit a policy of drizzle. A drizzle of missiles or a drizzle of rockets will encounter a very firm response and we will take all required steps to protect the safety of our citizens,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “We will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and its citizens, in the north and in the south, in every sector.”

Agence France-Presse described how Palestinian groups have resumed firing on Israeli communities after the “period of complete quiet” that followed Israel’s November Operation Pillar of Defense:

Fighters in the Gaza Strip on Monday sent a mortar shell crashing into an open area in southern Israel, a day after a rare retaliatory air strike by Israeli forces, the army said. Over the past two months, Gaza gunmen have begun firing sporadically across the border, ending a period of complete quiet that followed a full-scale Israeli aerial bombardment of the besieged Palestinian enclave in mid-November… The incident came 24 hours after Israeli warplanes launched air strikes against the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, targeting weapons depots and a training site for the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the military said.

Operation Pillar of Defense was itself launched to stem missile and rocket fire targeting Israeli population centers, which had escalated in amount and sophistication of Palestinian rocket attacks.

The latest attacks came during Israel’s Lag Ba’omer holiday weekend, which Israeli children traditionally mark with celebrations centered around evening bonfires. Hundreds of children were forced to seek shelter as so-called “Code Red” alarms warned of rocket fire.

[Photo: Israel Defense Force / WikiCommons]