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Defence Minister: Israel 'cannot accept' ceasefire with Hamas
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-28 10:17
Asked whether Israel would follow up the air strikes with a ground offensive, Barak said, "If boots on the ground will be needed, they will be there."

Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak attends a joint news conference with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (both not pictured) in Tel Aviv December 27, 2008. Olmert said on Saturday Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip could "take time", and braced residents of the country's south for sustained rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled enclave. [Agencies]


"Our intention is to totally change the rules of the game," he said.

Hamas vowed to retaliate.

"We will stand up, we will defend our own people, we will defend our land, and we will not give up," senior Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said.

Hamdan also denied accusations that Hamas had provoked Israel attacks by violating the cease-fire with rocket attacks.

"Hamas did not fire rockets through the cease-fire. It's clear that the one who violated the cease-fire is the Israelis," Hamdan told CNN. "For half the period of cease-fire, they closed all the checkpoints, and they killed 28 Palestinians."

Tensions had been building between Hamas and Israel despite the six-month truce. The tenuous agreement was weakened in recent weeks as violence escalated.