Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert(R 2nd) presides over a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, July 9, 2006.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

No timetable set for Gaza offensive: Israeli PM

    JERUSALEM, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that there would be no timetable for the ongoing Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip aimed to free a kidnapped soldier and halt Palestinian militant rocket firing. "This is a war and it can't be assigned a timetable," Olmert said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

    Olmert also reiterated Israel's stance, refusing to negotiate with Palestinian militants who took 19-year-old Gilad Shalitho stage, saying that negotiating with the kidnappers would only encourage future abductions.

Palestinians check a destroyed bridge after it was hit by an Israeli missile from a warplane in northern Gaza July 9, 2006.  (Xinhua/AFP Photo)