Peres: We will not sit on our hands as rockets fall

President says Hamas must choose between building and war as dozens of rockets fall on southern Israel.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Shimon Peres 370 (photo credit: Wikicommons)
Shimon Peres 370
(photo credit: Wikicommons)
President Shimon Peres angrily denounced the barrage of Palestinian rockets fired at Israel on Wednesday, saying "there is no circumstance under which they will fire upon on us and we will sit on our hands."
"I want to tell the residents of Gaza and their leaders, they have to decide what they want," Peres continued.  "If they decide on war, what can we do? If they decide to build, there will not be war."
Palestinian terrorists fired 60 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel Wednesday morning, injuring five and sending local residents fleeing for cover.
In an apparent reference to the emir of Qatar's Tuesday announcement of $400 million in building projects for Gaza, Peres said: "Nowhere else in the world would they gather money to build and instead of buying building materials, buy explosive materials."
Opposition Leader Shaul Mofaz denounced Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for not acting decisively against Hamas.
"The government under Prime Minister Netanyahu has been stuttering for 4 years," he said. "They need to put Hamas in their sites."
"This stuttering has a price," the Kadima leader continued. "The decisions taken against Hamas in recent years have not been decisive enough."
Mofaz refused to comment as to whether a full-scale ground operation was necessary to neutralize the threat of rockets.
Taking a different tack, Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich threw her support behind Netanyahu as he weighed responses to the terrorist acts.
"I am behind Prime Minister Netanyahu and understand the complexity of the situation, which requires military action and maintaining restraint," Yacimovich said.
"It is important for me to strengthen the South in their difficult hour. The IDF is doing an excellent job and we trust it wholeheartedly," she continued.