JERUSALEM, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israeli caretaker
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday evening warned that his country will not
tolerate the continuing rocket attacks from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Throughout the day, at least 16 rockets fired by
Gazan militants landed in southern Israel, injuring an elderly woman and further
rattling the Egypt-brokered five-month-old ceasefire between Israel and Gazan
militant groups.
"Israel views missile fire and attempts to carry out
terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip as a fundamental, gross violation of the
understandings that led to the truce," local daily Ha'aretz quoted Olmert as
saying after meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other military and
security officials.
He stressed that Israel "has no intention of
reconciling with these events," vowing that the government will not allow
southern residents to return to a state of uncertainty that had haunted them
before the ceasefire.
The latest violence came in the wake of a rocking
week, which started on Nov. 4 when Israeli paratroopers killed six Hamas gunmen
in a Gaza operation and the Gaza-ruler responded with a barrage of rockets.
Since then, over 10 Palestinian militants have been killed and Israel was
stricken by tens of rockets.
Recent flare-ups have become "the de facto conclusion
of the lull, even if there are those who refuse to recognize this," Vice Premier
Haim Ramon was quoted as saying earlier Friday.
During a visit to the bombarded town of Sderot,
Defense Minister Barak also vowed that the government would take decisive moves
to protect local residents and soldiers and to "keep acting against attempts to
interrupt the cease-fire."
Lately, some Israeli officials, however, have voiced
willingness to maintain the truce, which both sides had generally honored for
months, despite mounting worries that recent flare-ups might kill the deal
before its first phase of six months ends in mid-December.
If Hamas "will want or wish to keep the cease-fire
alive, we'll consider it seriously," Barak said, one day after the Jewish state
reportedly delivered a message to Hamas via Egypt that it has no interest in
escalating tensions along the border.
Earlier on Friday, a senior Israeli diplomat also
told local news service Ynet that the situation has "not yet reached the point
of no return."
"If Hamas stops the shooting, we can renew the terms
of the truce," he said, adding "Israel has made many efforts to get the message
across that it is interested in continuing the truce."
Meanwhile, Israeli officials issued harsh warnings to
militants in the Palestinian enclave, vowing that the militants would pay hefty
prices if they continue with attacks against Israeli targets.
JERUSALEM, Nov. 14
(Xinhua) -- Clashes between Israel and Palestinian militant groups continued on
Friday, although both sides have voiced willingness to maintain the increasingly
shaky truce.
A senior Israeli woman was lightly wounded and several
others were shocked in the early morning when Gazan militants fired a barrage of
rockets at southern Israel, which also caused damage of properties in and around
the southern city of Sderot, local daily Ha'aretz reported. Full
story
JERUSALEM, Nov. 13
(Xinhua) -- Israel on Thursday delivered a message to Hamas via Egypt saying
that it has no intention of deteriorating the volatile situation along the
border with the Gaza Strip, local daily Ha'aretz reported.
Aides to caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense
Minister Ehud Barak met with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and
stressed that "Israel will not be the first to breach the lull," the report
quoted a senior diplomatic official as saying. Full story
GAZA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua)
-- A United Nations official warned on Friday that the continuation of the tight
Israeli blockade on Gaza would disable the organization to deliver food supplies
and humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
John Ging, Director General of the UN Relief and Work
Agency in the Far East (UNRWA) operations in Gaza said in a statement that
"UNRWA is unable to deliver food in Gaza due to the strict Israeli
blockade." Full story
