May 20, 2007

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
 
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke with a series of officials around the world over the weekend, stressing that the barrage of Qassam rockets fired at southern Israel from Gaza in recent days cannot be tolerated.

Speaking by telephone to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Saturday evening, Livni said that no country would put up with the attacks that Israel has sustained from Gaza.

"The world must understand that the southern communities are under continuous fire," she said. "No nation in the world should, or could, suffer a situation like this, and Israel will act as it sees fit in accordance with its interests."

Livni had a similar message over the weekend for the foreign ministers of Egypt, Germany, Britain and Canada, saying that, "The current situation is intolerable."

Livni's office said that during a meeting on Saturday evening to prepare for the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, the foreign minister said that there is understanding within the international community for the plight of the residents of Sderot, and that Israel is the victim of internal Palestinian clashes in Gaza.

The Jewish Agency said Saturday night that it has received $2 million to fund a week-long summer camp in central Israel for all 8,000 of Sderot's children.