Prime Minister Yair Lapid and the leads of local authorities in the Gaza Envelope area met on Saturday to discuss the current security situation and the need for assistance to the communities.
During the meeting Lapid emphasized the need to ensure that residents adhere to the directives of Home Front Command, aimed at saving lives.
Local authority heads expressed support for the goals of Operation Breaking Dawn, and said that the residents of the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip are strong, and there is support for continuing the operation until security is restored in the area.
Local authority heads also told Lapid about immediate and longer-term needs in the area resulting from the operation.
Among those involved in the meeting were Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, Ashkelon Mayor Tomer Glam, Eshkol Regional Council Head Gadi Yarkoni, Hof Ashkelon Regional Council Head Itamar Revivo, Sdot Negev Regional Council Head Tamir Idan, and Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council Head Ofir Libstein. Also participating were PMO Dir.-Gen. Naama Schultz, Chief of Staff Dani Vesely, Cabinet Secretary Shalom Shlomo, the Prime Minister’s Military Secretary Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil, Deputy Head of the National Security Council Eitan Ben David, and Diplomatic Advisor Yair Zivan.
On Saturday evening, the prime minister met with top security and defense brass for a situation assessment at the IDF’s Kirya headquarters in Tel Aviv.
A briefing on the domestic situation was given, including the deployment of police forces on the ground. Also discussed were the necessary responses in light of the situation in the south and preparations for events for Tisha B’Av which began this evening.
Prime Minister’s Office Director General Naama Schultz, Public Security Ministry Director General Tomer Lotan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Alon Ushpiz, Israel Police Inspector General Koby Shabtai, National Security Council Director Dr. Ron Hulata, ISA Director Ronen Bar, Prime Minister’s Military Secretary Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil, IDF Operations Branch Commander Maj.-Gen. Oded Basiuk, Cabinet Secretary Shalom Shlomo, Prime Minister’s Chief-of-Staff Dani Vesely, Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Adviser Yair Zivan, Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Turgeman, Israel Police Operations Branch Commander Sigal Bar Tzvi and other senior officials participated in the discussion.
