The reduction of electric and fuel supplies to Gaza will continue, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said
Sunday at the beginning of a weekly cabinet meeting, adding that Israel
would continue combating terrorism in southern Israel and will not cease until life returns to normal in the area.
| Gaza Sanctions |
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| Rice urges Israel to avoid Gaza humanitarian crisis / Ali Waked and Reuters |
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(Video) US secretary of state tells reporters, 'No one wants innocent Gazans to suffer.' Palestinian Parliament holds meeting by candlelight, in view of power outage in Strip; owners of gas stations refuse to receive diesel supplied by Israel |
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"A war is going on in the south almost every day. Terrorist leaders are part of the war and we will not ease up on them and we won't stop the war until life for southern residents returns to normal," Olmert said.
The prime minister continued on to say that he was working in full cooperation with the Defense Ministry on the fortification of Israeli communities in the western Negev.
A senior official in the PM's Office said it was agreed last week that 8,000 of the existing 10,500 homes that are located up to 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) from the area from which the Qassam rockets are fired from would be fortified, this due to the fact that the "Iron Dome" system, which is expected to be fully functional in two-and-a-half years' time, is capable of intercepting Qassam rockets as well as short-range ground-to-ground missiles with a range of at least 4 kilometers (2.5 miles).
The cost of the project is estimated at some NIS 350 million (about $97 million), and its budget is expected to be approved during next week's cabinet meeting, Olmert said.
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