Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter on Monday urged the government to allow the Israeli army to escalate its response to terrorist rocket fire from Gaza.

Dichter noted that more than 3,000 residents have abandoned the battered southern Israel town of Sderot because they are no longer willing to live under siege.

In remarks carried by Israel National News, Dichter said that if the resident of Sderot must scurry for cover on a daily basis, then the residents of Gaza must be made to do the same.

Dichter has for more than a year been advising that the current policy of limited pinpoint strikes against terrorists is insufficient to bring the Gaza rocket fire to an end.