Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that Israel would take further military action against Palestinian militants who fire rockets, hours after Israeli army completed the first stage of the activity dubbed Operation Hot Winter.
"We are in the midst of a combat action. What happened in recent days was not a one-time event," Olmert was quoted by the online report of local daily Ha'aretz as saying.
"The objective is reducing the rocket fire and weakening Hamas," he added. "Everything is possible -- aerial and ground raids, special operations. Everything is up for discussion: what we'll do,how we do it, when and why... They (Hamas militants) will feel it... We'll proceed according to our goals."
Early Monday morning, Israel Defense Forces pulled out the ground troops from the northern Gaza, completing a five-day-long offensive in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed.
The pullback followed days of sequential fighting that drew an appeal from Washington to end violence and rescue peace talks with the Palestinians.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to meet Olmert in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, in an effort to push the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
Olmert will stress to Rice that Israel reserves the right to act freely in the Gaza Strip against Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups, according to Ha'aretz.
It said Olmert will also tell Rice that Israel is interested in continuing negotiations with moderate elements in the PNA.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article