Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, responding to an earlier rocket attack at southern town of Sderot, said Monday that Palestinians will pay a heavy price for such attack, local daily Ha'aretz reported.
"We view this attack very gravely," Olmert said after meeting Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer. "The IDF has been instructed to destroy every rocket launcher and to strike all those involved in the fire."
"We will continue to invest in reinforcement of educational institutions along the border with Gaza, and we will do everything necessary in order to create a stronger sense of security for the residents, who are living in an intolerable reality," added Olmert.
Israeli Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi said Israel will soon have to consider a wider ground operation in the Gaza Strip, which has been under Hamas rule since mid-June.
"At some stage, decided by Israel, there will be no choice but to wage a campaign in the Gaza Strip," he told Army Radio.
Earlier on Monday, seven Qassams were fired from the Gaza Strip into Sderot. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket attack, calling them "a gift for the opening of the school year."
Twelve Israeli children suffered from shock after the strike, according to Ha'aretz.
During the meeting with Gusenbauer, Olmert also expressed hope to make progress in talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the interest in direct and unconditional peace talks with Syria.
Gusenbauer's visit is the first to Israel by head of an Austrian government in close to a decade and only the third since the Jewish country was founded in 1948 in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust.
Ties between the two nations have often been strained because of Austria's alliance with Germany during World War II.
Source: Xinhua
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