Olmert: Gaza Operation 'nearing its goals'

GAZA CITY, Gaza (CNN) - Israeli aircraft continued their assault on Gaza Sunday, despite Israeli officials' assessment that the two-week-old military operation may be in its final days.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that "further patience" is needed, despite the fact that "Israel is nearing the goals it set" for its military operation in Gaza.

And Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Sunday that Israel may be close to "the end of the operation" because of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

"The decision of the U.N. Security Council doesn't leave us much leeway," Vilnai told Israel Radio. "It would seem then, I'm guessing, that we are close to the end of the ground operation and the end of the operation altogether."

The U.N. resolution was rejected by both Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza.