Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday refused to say when Israel's offensive in Gaza will end, telling his Cabinet the operation will continue until Palestinian rocket attacks significantly decrease. Israel moved into the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun last week in a bid to halt the rocket fire on southern Israeli towns. Forty-five Palestinians have been killed, including a Hamas gunmen who was shot in the stomach on Sunday, according to Palestinian officials. «We have declared that we will never accept the ongoing Qassam fire and that we would take any steps needed to considerably reduce the fire and prevent terror activity,» Olmert told his Cabinet. «The operation is limited in time but we have no intention of announcing when it will end.» «When we reach the conclusion that the effectiveness of the operation is bringing us closer to reaching the goals, we will definitely pull our forces out of Gaza,» he added. «We have no intention to occupy Gaza.» Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday appealed for United Nations intervention to stop the Israeli operation, the Associated Press reported.
