Israel seeking Gaza exit beside Hamas' wreck

JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Israel is trying to blaze a favorable trail out of the warfare in the Gaza Strip as its troops continued the ground incursion on Tuesday to deal the biggest possible blow to the Islamist Hamas movement.

"The sooner, the better," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told local daily Ha'aretz when asked when the Israel Defense Forces(IDF) plans to end its operation. "We did not set out to occupy Gaza or kill every terrorist. We set out to bring change to the south."

Reiterating his country has no interest in a long assault in the Palestinian enclave, he said he was in contact with many world leaders in a bid to hammer out a diplomatic solution for the already 11-day-old offensive.

With the latest casualties count in Gaza showing over 670 killed and 3,000 wounded, international pressure is mounting for an immediate ceasefire, of which the most high-profile came from the European Union (EU) and France.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/07/content_10614950.htm

time to let the Palestinians return to their squaller

I'm not sure what his agenda is now, but it's not winning an election for himself.