Photo by GPO

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited wounded IDF soldiers at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.  He spoke with soldiers – in the intensive care and trauma units – who were wounded during Operation Cast Lead and heard from them about the fighting and the circumstances in which they were wounded.  He also spoke with the soldiers' families.

 Hospital Director Prof. Zeev Rotstein briefed Prime Minister Olmert on the hospital's care for the wounded and also noted that in 2008, the Chaim Sheba Medical Center treated over 1,000 ill and injured Palestinians, some of whom were Fatah members who arrived during the Operation having been shot by Hamas terrorists.

Prime Minister Olmert said: "The soldiers and commanders here proved their courage under fire and precisely carried out their missions in order to change the security reality in the south.  I hope that the quiet returns to our people and that the soldiers and will quickly recover.  The fact that there are also wounded Palestinians here, who receive the best care Israel can offer, only proves what we have been saying since the start of the operation – the Palestinian people are not our enemy and Hamas is also the enemy of the civilians in Gaza.  Our war is not against the civilian population but is to attain the quiet that the residents of southern Israel are entitled to."