Mahmoud Abbas censured Palestinian rocket launches from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
“We condemn the launching of rockets from Gaza because these actions harm peace and the peace process,” the Palestinian Authority president told reporters Tuesday after a salvo by Islamic Jihad terrorists nearly struck a day-care center in the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
The remarks were uncharacteristically strong for Abbas, who previously described terrorist violence in more circumspect terms – as harmful to the Palestinian national interest.
Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have been holding accelerated talks ahead of a U.S.-sponsored conference on Palestinian statehood in November.
