JERUSALEM, Israel - IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said the next barrage of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip would require Israel to take the initiative.

"The recent escalation and loss of life, as well as the disruption of the southern residents daily routine, will eventually make it necessary for the army to launch a major offensive in Gaza," Gantz told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Tuesday,

He said it would be important to "shorten the length of fighting as much as possible."

"The swiftness must be based on quality intelligence and on operating at a fast pace," he said.

Gantz also said construction of the security fence along the border with Egypt has been accelerated because of increasing terror threats emanating from the Sinai.

"Sinai has become a region in which infrastructures are set up and foster terrorist activity while undermining Egyptian sovereignty," Gantz said.

He also called the Palestinian bid for unilateral statehood at the U.N. a "process," not just a "date."

"The preparations are not behind us yet" for rioting or other violence in Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

Meanwhile, two rockets landed in a kibbutz in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, one damaging a kindergarten. No kids were there at the time the rockets hit.