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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Tess Scheflan)
Last update - 18:08 04/03/2008
Barak: IDF will increase pressure in Gaza if rockets don't stop
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
Tags: palestinian authority, hamas 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed on Tuesday that if the Qassam rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel does not stop, the Israel Defense Forces will continue operating in the Strip and will even increase its pressure.

Barak spoke one day after a six-day IDF action in the Gaza Strip left more than 100 Palestinians and two IDF soldiers dead.

"I hear that in the world, even friends, are raising questions like 'is Israel using excessive force?' To these critics, even the friends among them, I say that the responsibility lies with those who fire rockets," Barak said in a speech.
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The defense minister promised to bring calm to the communities in southern Israel near the border with Gaza, who bear the brunt of the rocket attacks.

"To the residents of Gaza we can only say that when the rockets stop, and the terrorist attacks coming out of Gaza into Israel stop, only then will a way open up to a different reality of calm on both sides and good neighborly relations. However, the continuation of rocket fire will lead to the continuation of our actions, even with higher intensity," he said.

Barak added that Israel is being tested currently in the Gaza Strip, and that its military actions there would continue. According to him, the situation does not call for a "wham bam thank you ma'am" kind of operation, but rather a long process. But Israel is determined, he stressed.

Also Tuesday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told foreign diplomats based in Israel that Israel would reoccupy the Hamas-ruled Gaza if necessary, though it prefers not to do so, the Foreign Ministry said.

"We cannot afford this kind of extreme Islamic state controlled by Hamas," Livni said, according to a ministry statement released Tuesday.

"Israel evacuated Gaza not in order to come back, but we might find ourselves in a situation where we have no choice," Livni said.

Israel pulled its settlers and troops out of the territory, home to 1.4 million Palestinians, in 2005. Hamas violently seized control there last June.

Livni added that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to halt peace negotiations in the wake of the recent IDF operation in Gaza shows weakness, signaling to Hamas that its attacks from Gaza could influence Abbas' actions.

On Monday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that the operation in the Gaza Strip is not a singular event. "The operation is not a one-time event: neither in us going in, nor us pulling out."

Speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, Olmert said that "everything is on the table - ground operations, air [strikes] and special operations."

He described the government's goals in the operation that ended early Monday morning, and in others to come as "significantly decreasing the launch of indirect fire, and the weakening of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip, in a way that will check its ability to control life in the Gaza Strip."

Olmert also stressed that negotiations with the Palestinians will continue. He said that without negotiations, Israel would be condemned by the international community, even if it behaved in a restrained and balanced manner.

"That which enables us to manifest our basic right to self defense is the political horizon. There is no way to prevent the 'Gazafication' process and the rise of Hamas in the West Bank without offering a political horizon. Whoever cannot recognize this is simply lying to himself," the Prime Minister said.

Olmert also argued that a military operation in the Strip had become necessary even without Ashkelon being targeted by Hamas.

"From the ethical point of view, shots fired against Netivot are no different from those fired on Ashkelon. The lives of those living in the communities bordering the Gaza Strip are just as important and precious as those of any Israeli."

The prime minister said he rejects the "lectures on morals" coming from outside Israel.


Related articles:
  • Olmert calls for international force along Gaza-Egypt border
  • PM says he opposes major IDF offensive in Gaza for time being
  • Defense Min.: Hamas has given us no choice but to continue Gaza op
  • Ehud Olmert rejects Hamas' offer of cease-fire in Gaza Strip
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      1.   Olmert is lying 04:57  |  Frank 04/03/08
      2.   Empty words 05:02  |  Murray of Montreal 04/03/08
      3.   When blood defeats the sword 06:07  |  Che 04/03/08
      4.   The PM`s Strings 06:31  |  Geoff 04/03/08
      5.   I`ll HUFF and I`ll PUFF, and I `ll blow your house down! 07:36  |  Natallie Durson 04/03/08
      6.   The solution to terror. 08:20  |  Jean Van Daem 04/03/08
      7.   Olmert your a liar, a coward and a fool resign already 08:30  |  Shepherd 04/03/08
      8.   Olmert,what are you going to tell the parents of killed soldiers 08:31  |  Shepherd 04/03/08
      9.   Need to change strategy 08:56  |  Big Papa John 04/03/08
      10.   Don’t risk the live of one soldier! 09:09  |  Christian Zionist 04/03/08
      11.   Hamas, if you have truly won 10:11  |  Tzfonit 04/03/08
      12.   YES OLMERT ... INCLUDING MORE MURDER OF BABIES AND CHILDREN 10:26  |  TripleJump 04/03/08
      13.   That table must be big........ 10:32  |  Swiss (Dino) 04/03/08
      14.   WHAT A SHAME 10:33  |  indrajaya 04/03/08
      15.   "All military options for Gaza are on the table" 10:38  |  Esther 04/03/08
      16.   A real terrorist 10:42  |  Ahmad 04/03/08
      17.   OBVIOUSLY ALL OPTIONS MUST REMAIN ON THE TABLE 10:42  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 04/03/08
      18.   welcome to the mini kosher holocaust,folks! 10:46  |  lakshmi 04/03/08
      19.   on the water table or the kitchen table ? 10:47  |  v hardman 04/03/08
      20.   If Olmert is allowed by the United States 10:48  |  Chris Linthwaite 04/03/08
      21.   1 10:54  |  Right On 04/03/08
      22.   what would they have done? 11:06  |  sam 04/03/08
      23.   SOMEDAY I PUT MY SIGNATURE 11:11  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 04/03/08
      24.   And there they will stay until the table rusts 11:16  |  Table Talk 04/03/08
      25.   Indeed, life should win over Muslim death cult 11:20  |  rondi 04/03/08
      26.   what options...? 11:22  |  ravi 04/03/08
      27.   Reply to Shepherd (Post No. 3) 11:22  |  Johnny Weintraub 04/03/08
      28.   #11, lakshmi 11:38  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 04/03/08
      29.   It is Israel that needs to be significantly reduced 11:40  |  Dutch 04/03/08
      30.   #14 - Lakshmi must be heard 11:44  |  Nathan Rai 04/03/08
      31.   To rondi 11:48  |  Zirbry 04/03/08
      32.   UNDER THE TABLE 11:51  |  indrajaya 04/03/08
      33.   Esther, Re : your comment 12:25  |  Dutch 04/03/08
      34.   # 12 Esther, Re : Your comment 12:27  |  Dutch 04/03/08
      35.   #13, it is what`s under the table that counts 12:39  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 04/03/08
      36.   #15, Esther 12:45  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 04/03/08
      37.   Cipora, Re: misuse of the Holocaust 12:54  |  Dutch 04/03/08
      38.   Lakshmi, I am off to more demonstrations against Israel today... 13:19  |  Dutch 04/03/08
      39.   ravi from punjab 13:53  |  danny 04/03/08
      40.   ALL? 14:16  |  Mark Lincoln 04/03/08
      41.   Keep up the good work boys 14:17  |  maccabim 04/03/08
      42.   deliberate no see no hear 14:56  |  Ben Menachem 04/03/08
      43.   #38 doris cadigan protests about the usa and 15:23  |  v hardman 04/03/08
      44.   Livni what is your definition of 15:28  |  Chris Linthwaite 04/03/08
      45.   We certainly do, Cipora # 17 15:39  |  Clickfool 04/03/08
      46.   Livni, you are great! 15:43  |  Vital 04/03/08
      47.   great empire of israel!!! 15:45  |  palestinian citizen 04/03/08
      48.   So easy to say, so difficult to do 15:46  |  Clickfool 04/03/08
      49.   Israel on "lecture on morals" 15:52  |  Yaakov Sullivan 04/03/08
      50.   What Israel Chooses, CJ Kohn Is This 15:58  |  Yaakov Sullivan 04/03/08
      51.   #5: yes, they`d have to stop crying wolf 16:00  |  Paul Freedman 04/03/08
      52.   Dutch, Lakshimi et all 16:22  |  george 04/03/08
      53.   Indrajaya where is your information from 16:27  |  Howard 04/03/08
      54.   For Cipora Julianna Kohn # 17 16:31  |  Fortuna Benmayor 04/03/08
      55.   For Cipora Julianna Kohn # 17 (part two) 16:44  |  Fortuna Benmayor 04/03/08
      56.   Dutch and the holocaust 16:47  |  Dave 04/03/08
      57.   Really Yaacov Sullivan # 49 _ You Have Outdone Yourself With Your 16:56  |  Eli 04/03/08
      58.   All Wrong 17:09  |  Ron 04/03/08
      59.   A New Political Horizon: JORDAN! 17:11  |  AliciaYsmeen 04/03/08
      60.   Eli from Berkeley Has Nothing To Say, Par for the Course 17:20  |  Yaakov Sullivan 04/03/08
      61.   Cipora Julianna Kohn, Hardly Prepared 17:24  |  Yaakov Sullivan 04/03/08
      62.   Dutch still delusional as ever! 17:27  |  DR 04/03/08
      63.   If Rocket Fire Doesnt Stop?? 17:28  |  Yaakov Sullivan 04/03/08
      64.   Will Olmert and co then give Gaza to Abbas? 17:28  |  redmike 04/03/08
      65.   Israeli policy leading to Gaza invasion 17:29  |  Tosefta 04/03/08
      66.   #12, Triple jump...are you a mouthpiece or what? 17:30  |  DR 04/03/08
      67.   Reoccuping gaza and no political earhquake??? 17:34  |  trumpeldor 04/03/08
      68.   #56 Dave 17:35  |  Chris Linthwaite 04/03/08
      69.   cLICKFOOL STILL BLOODTHIRSTY 17:42  |  dovale 04/03/08
      70.   #47 17:57  |  jeff