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Outgoing Prime Minster Ehud Olmert on Tuesday threatened that Israel would lash out against Gaza militants in response to ongoing cross-border attacks. "We will never flee from our homes. We won't defend, but will attack - and stop once and for all what threatens our daily lives," he vowed. Olmert made the comments while speaking to schoolchildren during a tour of rocket-battered communities bordering the Gaza Strip.The prime minister added that, "I say, with full responsibility, that we know what needs to be done but we also know when to act in order so that you won't be scared and won't need to run breathlessly to the shelters." Olmert's comments came after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday that Israel must take all steps necessary to weaken Hamas' rule in Gaza, using a combination of immediate military, diplomatic, and economic measures. During a conference at Tel Aviv University, Livni also called for Israel to respond to all Qassam rocket attacks originating from the Gaza Strip in order to ensure that Israel not present an image of weakness. "Israel must respond to all [rocket] fire. It won't stop the attacks, but the image also has a purpose, when the image is that Israel is weak, our deterrent ability is weakened," she said. While Livni said she was "embarrassed to call the situation in the Gaza envelope a truce, as long as the rocket attacks haven't stopped," she emphasized that the responsibility for ensuring quiet in the Strip lies with Hamas. "If they know that we won't stay silent while rockets fall on Ashkelon they will enforce the truce themselves," Livni said... By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
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