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Israel vows to end Hamas rocket attacks


Published: March 3, 2008 at 12:24 PM
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JERUSALEM, March 3 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has vowed to continue military operations in Gaza aimed at ending rocket attacks into southern Israel.

Olmert said Monday Israel's latest operation in Gaza is by no means its last but added that his country must continue diplomatic efforts with the Palestinian Authority, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Olmert warned that the West Bank could become another Gaza if peace talks are halted.

"Absence of negotiations could lead to a 'Gazanization' of the West Bank and anyone who can't see this is lying to himself," Olmert said.

But he emphasized that Israel has a responsibility to protect its citizens.

"No population should have to live with the constant threat of rockets," he said. "No one in the world can find us at fault for trying to protect our population."

Israel's deputy head of the Military Intelligence Research Division told the Post that 20 Grad missiles recently fired at the town of Ashkelon from Gaza were manufactured in Iran.



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OLMERT
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speaks at the Herzliya conference in the coastal city of Herzliya, Israel on January 23, 2008. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday he would not allow a humanitarian crisis to develop in the Gaza Strip but its residents could not expect to lead normal lives while rockets hit Israel. (UPI Photo/Gil Cohen/Pool)
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