Israeli army begins sending reservists into Gaza

"The Israeli public, especially the residents of the south, have the requisite patience and willingness -- so does the government," he said.

A trail of smoke is seen after the launch of a rocket from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israel January 10, 2009. Israeli tanks advanced on Gaza and Hamas militants fired rockets at Israel on Saturday, as both sides ignored international calls to stop the conflict and Israel warned it would escalate its assault.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Olmert also hit back at the mounting international criticism of the IDF operation in Gaza, saying that "No country in the world --not even those who preach morality to us -- would have shown similar patience and self-control."

"We have never agreed that someone should decide for us if we are allowed to strike at those who bomb kindergartens and schools and we will never agree to this in the future," he said.

Olmert defended Israeli security cabinet's decision to continue the Gaza operation in spite of Thursday's UN Security Council resolution which called for an immediate and durable ceasefire.

On Friday, Israeli security cabinet decided to continue the IDF operation, but not to expand it at this stage.

"I must note that UN Resolution 1860 also sharply rules out continued attacks directed against civilians and does not forbid urgent action against them," he said.

Despite Olmert's confidence in achieving the operation goals, there is apparently much difficulty for the IDF operation.

Hamas will continue to fight though the militant group was badly hit by the IDF operation, Major General Amos Yadlin, head of IDF military intelligence warned on Sunday.

According to Yadlin, who briefed Israeli cabinet ministers on the Gaza operation, there were cracks in Hamas' resilience, its disconnected leadership in Syria, and its waning public support following the extensive Israeli attacks on the group.

The general predicted that while Hamas realized that it had no choice but to reach a compromise with Israel, it was not about to surrender, and was still capable of striking Israel and the IDF.

On Sunday, Palestinian militants in Gaza continued to exchange fire with the IDF as well as firing rockets into southern Israel. Since the operation, 13 Israelis have been killed, including four killed in rocket attacks and nine soldiers killed in Gaza ground battle.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei