In Israel and the Occupied Territories, more than ninety Palestinians were seized and brought back into Israel Sunday in an Israeli raid. One Palestinian civilian and three Hamas militants were killed, and twenty people were wounded before Israeli forces withdrew. The raids came as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Israel has the right to “attack everyone” if Palestinians fire rockets.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: “We have completely a free hand to respond, to reach out and to attack everyone which is having any kind of responsibility on behalf of Hamas in the southern part of our country.”

Olmert went on to say he doesn’t expect to reach a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority this year, only a set of “basic principles.” He said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to delay talks on the status of Jerusalem until the very last stages, but Palestinian officials are denying the claim. Israel has announced two major settlement expansion projects in Arab East Jerusalem since the U.S.-brokered Annapolis summit last November. Olmert’s comments came as Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas remains open to talks on a ceasefire with Israel.

Sami Abu Zuhri: “Hamas has confirmed that it has no objection to studying the matter if the Israeli occupation commits to stopping all forms of aggression against our Palestinian people and lifts the siege that is imposed on our
people.”