Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday evening that Hamas' ongoing attacks left Israel without choice but to respond and vowed to change the situation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Barak made the remarks during a meeting with defense officials including Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yuval Diskin.
"The time has come for action. The military operations are continuing and Hamas bears the responsibility," Barak was quoted by an online report of local daily Ha'aretz as saying.
"We pulled out of Gaza, we tore Israelis from their homes, just for quiet in the communities in the Gaza envelope. These were painful concessions that we made for quiet, and Hamas has continued its fire without reason," he added.
Hamas are firing on innocent civilians and have left Israel no choice, said the defense minister, adding that "We will operate with force to change the situation, and we will change it."
Meanwhile, IDF officials expressed satisfaction with the progress of the military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli army will continue its operations in the current format-- activity deep within Palestinian territory that includes "clearing" Qassam launch sites, searching structures and detaining wanted Palestinian militants, according to the website of local daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
On Sunday, 10 Palestinians were killed and four IDF troops lightly wounded when intense fighting between the IDF and Gaza militants erupted amid ongoing rocket fire.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militants in Gaza fired 21 rockets at southern Israel, leaving one person lightly wounded.
On early Sunday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed that Israel will not stop the military operations against the Palestinian militants in Gaza.
"If anyone in Gaza has illusions that extending the range of rocket fire will bring our operations to an end they are sorely mistaken," Olmert told his weekly cabinet meeting.
Israeli troops have stepped up strikes against Gaza since Wednesday following the death of an Israeli civilian who was killed by a Qassam rocket in the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
A total of 65 Palestinians were killed while 320 others wounded on Saturday in a daylong large-scale military ground operation into northern Gaza Strip.
Source:Xinhua
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