There's Enough Bullets for Everyone - What Lies Ahead for Gaza

With tensions between Gaza and Israel ramping up yet again, recent comments from an Israeli politician provides us a pretty good sense of where this conflict is headed.  

As background, 65-year old Avi Dichter is a Member of the Knesset, representing the Likud Party and currently is a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.  He has also served as the Director of the Israeli Security Agency also known as Shin Bet/Shabak which functions as Israel's internal security service, Minister of Public Security and Minister of Home Front Defense.  As you can see, he has a long track record of serving in capacities that involve protecting the Israeli homeland from both internal and external threats.

Here is his resume:

Here is a list of Knesset committees that he has served on since 2006, noting again his leanings toward homeland security services as well as his interest in issues revolving around the Holocaust:

With that background, let's look at the connection between Mr. Dichter and the recent events involving the mass shooting of Palestinian protestors along the dividing line between Israel and the Gaza.  Here is a screen capture showing what Avi Dichter had to say about the prospect of a border breach between Israel and the Gaza and the fate of Gaza protestors as published in the Times of Israel:

Here's the quote from the news article which was taken from a television interview that Avi Dichter gave to Hadashot TV news in the early afternoon of Monday, May 15 when the death toll in Gaza stood at "only" 18 Palestinians:

“[Security forces] won’t let anyone put soldiers, and certainly not civilians, in danger.  The IDF has enough bullets for everyone. I think that ultimately, the means that the IDF prepared, whether non-lethal, or if needed, lethal, in cases where it’s justified by the open-fire regulations — there’s enough ammunition for everyone.”

In case that comment didn't get the point across, here is a posting from his Facebook page from May 14 at 11:37 am where he slightly alters his views on shooting Palestinians with Israel's ample supply of ammunition:

As you might suspect, Mr. Dichter's comments received almost no coverage from the Western mainstream media, particularly in the United States, largely because it doesn't fit the current Israeli narrative.  When comments like these come from a very senior lawmaker in Israel, I think that we can make a pretty accurate guess about what lies ahead for Gaza.  But then again, when a nation refers to killing and wounding Palestinians as "mowing the grass", what else would we expect.