Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Monday that Israel will no longer show restraint when the Jewish state is under attack, local daily Ha'aretz reported on its website.
Speaking to reporters alongside her counterparts from the Czech Republic, France and Sweden, Livni said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Cast Lead Operation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was intended to "change the equation" in the region, whereby Hamas fires at Israel and Israel responds with restraint.
Israel has no choice but to retaliate when attacked, said the foreign minister, who returned from Paris on Monday following talks with French officials.
Meanwhile, Livni defended IDF's ground incursion into Gaza as a form of "legitimate self-defense."
Czech Foreign Minister Karl Schwarzenberg stressed the stance of European Union (EU) that a ceasefire must be reached immediately between Israel and Gaza.
EU rejected Israel's approach that a truce could not be reached until the IDF had achieved all of its aims in Gaza, said Schwarzenberg.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also defended IDF's ground incursion into Gaza, saying that any nation seeking to survive would have take the same action.
The aim of the IDF operation in Gaza was to change the political and security situation in south Israel, said Barak, adding that Israel would end its operation in Gaza "with an upper hand."
The Cast Lead Operation, which started on Dec. 27, entered its tenth day on Monday, so far killing about 538 Palestinians.
Since Saturday evening, the operation moved into its second stage, with IDF launching a large-scale ground incursion into Gaza.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militants in Gaza continued to fire rockets into Israel since the operation, so far killing four people on the Israeli side. In addition, an IDF soldier was killed Sunday during an exchange of fire with Palestinian militants in northern Gaza.
Source:Xinhua
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