Special report: Israel launches Gaza
assault
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speaks during a news
conference in Jerusalem July 10, 2006. Olmert said that the conflicts
between Israel and Palestine in the Gaza Strip would not block Palestine
to found an independent state alongside a secure Israel. He also said that
Israel had no particular desire to topple the Hamas government. (Xinhua
Photo) |
JERUSALEM, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert vowed on Monday to press ahead an ongoing massive military offensive
in the Gaza Strip to free a kidnapped soldier and halt Palestinian rocket
attacks while defending his plan to withdraw from more settlements in the West
Bank.
Speaking to foreign media at a news conference,
Olmert reiterated that there would be no timetable for the Israeli offensive in
Gaza, saying that Israel had the right to ensure the security of its citizens.
Olmert slammed the Palestinian militant rocket
attacks as "aiming to kill innocent Israelis", adding that Israel had no choice
but to take some measures to defend itself.
The prime minister also rejected criticism by the
European Union over the Israeli military moves in Gaza, rebuking the pan-Europe
bloc for not condemning the Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel.
"When was the last time that the European Union
condemned this shooting and suggested effective measures to stop it?" Olmert
said. "At some point, Israel had no choice but to take some measures in order to
stop this thing."
Olmert said that there would be no Israeli military
action in Gaza if Palestinian militants halted rocket firing and attacks against
innocent Israeli civilians.
Israel says that the massive Gaza operation, launched
on June 28, is aimed to free an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian
militants during a cross-border raid on an Israeli army post on June 25 and
prevent Palestinian militants from firing rockets.
It is the first such large-scale push by Israeli troops into Gaza since Israel completed withdrawing soldiers and settlers from it last September after 38 years of occupation.
[1] [2] [3] [4]
