Following Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Saturday night speech announcing a unilateral Israeli ceasefire, Hamas spokesman Fauzi Barhoum reaffirmed that the group would not stop its attacks. Gaza terrorists fired several rockets at Be'er Sheva shortly after Olmert concluded his speech.

Hamas leader in Lebanon Osama Hamdan termed Olmert's speech “The second failure speech.” Olmert made his speech in an attempt to avoid a panel of inquiry similar to that established after the Second Lebanon War, Hamdan claimed.