Israeli PM says no timetable set for Gaza offensive

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that there would be no timetable for the ongoing Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip aimed to free a kidnapped soldier and halt Palestinian militant rocket firing.

"This is a war and it can't be assigned a timetable," Olmert said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

Olmert also reiterated Israel's stance, refusing to negotiate with Palestinian militants who took 19-year-old Gilad Shalit hostage, saying that negotiating with the kidnappers would only encourage future abductions.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said during the meeting that the Israeli army would continue to enter and quit the Gaza Strip to carry out military operations if needed.

Peretz said that the operations would focus on targeting rocket launch sites and areas in which cross-border tunnels may have been dug by Palestinian militants.

"The army is operating in a gradual and planned manner, to increase pressure on the militants in an effort to free Shalit without any preconditions," said the minister, adding that diplomatic efforts were underway in parallel to the military operations in Gaza.

Israeli army sources said that about 20 Palestinians were killed over the weekend during Israeli military operations in Gaza, bringing the death toll of the Palestinians to about 50 since Israel launched the "Summer Rain" offensive on June 28.

Israel quit the entire Gaza Strip last summer after 38 years of military rule.

Source: Xinhua