Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday that talks with Israel remain frozen but added that the PA "is acting in order to bring a calm in Gaza...and wants to make sure that what happened will not occur again." Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that talks will continue but so will retaliation against Hamas.
He added that a diplomatic success is "the only way to prevent the process of 'Gaza'ization'" of Judea and Samaria. "Whoever fails to see that simply is lying to himself." His comments were made as American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is preparing to fly to the region.