VIDEO - Who will blink first? Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during the cabinet meeting Sunday that "we will not blink in the face of Hizbullah and we will not halt the war in spite of the harsh circumstances. This is the right thing to do."
According to Olmert, "Hizbullah, like the entire Muslim terror, threatens the western civilization. When we decided to respond we knew that we would have to face difficult situation. We will overcome them."
The Qana incident embarrassed the Israeli government. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was scheduled to meet with Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema on Sunday afternoon and give a statement on recent events, but she decided not to respond on the incident in which at least 55 Lebanese citizens were killed in the southern Lebanon village of Qana.
"I express my deep regret, which is shared by the entire State of Israel and the IDF, over the death of civilians in the village of Qana. There is nothing far away from our thoughts and interests than hurting civilians, and everyone understands this," Olmert said.
IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz also expressed his regret over the fact that civilians were hurt.
"We are operating in a place from where Katyushas are being launched and we conveyed messages to the citizens. Unfortunately, people who gathered in the place, while we were unaware of their presence, were hurt," he said.
"We will continue to fight in a bid to protect the northern residents and bring about calm. The terror organizations are taking shelter among populated areas. We will continue to operate with minimal damage to civilians," he added.
Sources in the Israel Defense Forces noted that with all the deep regret over the incident, Israeli cannot halts its operation while Hizbullah terrorists are directing their Katyusha rockets at Israeli cities, including at hospitals.
'Some will try to turn incident into celebration'
"We will continue to operate against terror as needed without hesitating and without being deterred," Olmert said. "There are many elements that will seek to take advantage of the Qana incident for a 'celebration.' I regret the fact that these elements will try and take advantage of this and defame Israel's moral profile."
Olmert added: "We want to hurt Hizbullah and this organization only. We do not wish to hurt civilians, this is not our policy. The State of Israel deeply regrets the fact that civilians were hurt during an operation that was aimed at preventing the launching of rockets and the murder of innocent Israelis."
The prime minister promised to cooperate with humanitarian aid organizations and said that Israel plans to continue to provide the population stuck in Lebanon with humanitarian aid.
However, he stressed that "I have no plan to ask the government to change the war's objectives and reduce the activity of security forces, all this in a bid to stop the firing of rockets on northern Israel."
Bodies recovered (Photo: AP)
According to Olmert, "the village of Qana was not attacked accidentally. It serves as a base for launching rockets at Israel and the north, and especially at Kiryat Shmona and the Hula Valley. It is not only a base of terror, but storerooms of logistics and Hizbullah equipment which was hidden in the village."
"Civilians were warned in advance. Hizbullah is using its citizens as a human shield, they want to see children's blood. This is the only weapon they have left," he said.
'These are difficult times'
Olmert reiterated that "we do not plan to take a risk on the account of hundreds of thousands of Israelis who are in bomb shelters, suffering from Katyushas and may be murdered by Hizbullah. I have no plan to impose limitations on the IDF. This is a test, especially for the home front. These are difficult times, but I can promise that we will back the home front."
"From reports I have received, the village of Qana was used as a center for launching rockets at Kiryat Shmona and Afula. Hundreds of rockets have been fired from the village's surroundings and dozens have been fired from inside the village," Olmert told ministers at the cabinet meeting.
Olmert was briefed on the serious incident by his military secretary Gad Shmani. He added that "Hizbullah is using civilians as a human shield."
"All the residents were warned and called to leave. There are hiding places for rockets inside the village, and the village itself constitutes a shelter for rocket launchers," the prime minister revealed.
He added that "no one gave an instruction to fire on civilians, and this doesn’t mean that any of us gave an order to fire at civilians. We have no policy of killing innocent civilians. For 18 days hundreds and thousands of missiles have been fired, aimed at murdering innocent civilians in the north."
Intelligence Chief Major-General Amos Yadlin said during the government meeting that "Nasrallah is interested in an immediate ceasefire, but Israel must stick to its stance."
According to Yadlin, the Lebanese prime minister is satisfied with the situation in which he is destined to receive the Shebaa farms (Mount Dov) as part of a long-term diplomatic agreement.
"He wants to present an achievement opposite Hizbullah and show that he has managed to achieve with negotiations what Nasrallah did not manage to achieve using power. The United States, on its part, is closer to Siniora in this stance," he said.
Hanan Greenberg and Moran Zelikovich contributed to the report