Livni, with Solana at side, hints retaliation against Gaza rocket attacks

JERUSALEM (Press Release)--During a joint news conference with Javier Solana, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni issued a warning to the Hamas government in Gaza, that life in Gaza could not remain the same so long as rockets are being fired at Israel from that territory.   Here is a transcript of their joint appearance:

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni: I would like to welcome a friend, Javier Solana, on his visit to the region again. The situation is complicated as it always is, yet we can see that a dialogue between (Palestinian President) Abu Mazen and (Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert is taking place, and we may be facing new opportunities, while facing the same old threats. As always, there is a need to discuss, to share ideas and to see what the prospects are and what the meaning of the situation is – how we can translate some ideas into more concrete steps.

Only today, we saw that the situation in Gaza has deteriorated and that in fact Israel is being targeted on a daily basis. Today a Kassam rocket fell just a few meters from a kindergarten and this is something that leads to an understanding that business is not as usual. We just opened our schools and kindergartens yesterday, and it is part of the responsibility of the Israeli government to provide an answer to attacks of this kind.

High Representative Javier Solana: Thank you very much. For me it is a pleasure to be back here in Jerusalem, in Israel. The last time I was here was in the second half of July, if I recall properly, and I will continue coming regularly because I feel very attached to your country and very attached to the peace process.

I think that the time now, from the beginning of September until December, is going to be of a certain importance, if we do it properly, and I do hope we will do it properly. This applies basically to the
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