(Communicated by the Foreign Minister's Bureau)
On Wednesday evening, 18 June 2008, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs addressed a Kadima party gathering in Tel-Aviv:
FM Livni: "We have one address in Gaza, and that is Hamas. We will not check who fires a Kassam rocket. Responsibility rests with Hamas. I do not believe only in a halt to the firing on both sides. There must also be a halt to arms smuggling and stockpiling.
I will not accept a period of calm that is used to rearm. Terror and smuggling are the two grounds that will call for Israeli military action in Gaza. If there will be no terror or smuggling, we will not need to act. But if we do have to resort to military action, we will do so without hesitation. And if Hamas wants something more that is important to it - like the opening of the Rafah passage - they must first remember that there is something that is very dear to us - Gilad Shalit."