By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday that Israel will continue negotiations with the moderates in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Xinhua has learnt.
Livni made the remarks hours after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice kicked off a new visit in the territory in a bid to help revive the Palestinian-Israeli talks.
Speaking with dozens of Turkish reporters visiting Israel, Livni stressed that Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip was not aim at hurt civilians.
“I am here to clarify that that our values, and the IDF’s (Israel Defense Forces) methods of operation, dictate the implementation of the steps necessary to reduce civilian casualties,” she was quoted by an official statement released from Israeli Foreign Ministry.
“Israeli civilians are targeted on a daily basis from Gaza. Israel left Gaza, and there is no justifiable reason for these attacks. It is unacceptable, and we will not reconcile ourselves to this situation,” she added.
Rice, while holding talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume suspended peace negotiations and said she believed a deal was still possible by the end of the year.
In her talks with Israeli leaders on Tuesday evening, Rice is expected once again to raise Egypt’s request to increase the number of its soldiers on the border by 750.
Rice is also expected to seek Israel’s response to the plan to reopen the Rafah crossing into Egypt, and to Fayyad’s plan to transfer control of the crossings between Gaza and Israel to the PNA.
The Israeli army has been carrying out since Saturday a large-scale military ground operation into the Gaza Strip, which prompted Abbas to suspend peace talks with Israel.
However, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed that if the Qassam rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel does not stop, the Israel Defense Forces will continue operating in the Gaza Strip and will even increase its pressure.
Barak spoke one day after a six-day IDF action in Gaza left more than 100 Palestinians and two IDF soldiers dead.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that Israel would take further military action against militants firing rockets in Gaza.