GAZA CITY: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not hesitate to decisively respond to the rockets and mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli towns.
“We will not put up with rocket fire (from Gaza) into our communities. We will decisively respond to every attack,” Netanyahu said during the weekly Cabinet meeting. He said “peace will once again be based on reciprocation.” He added: “Israel uprooted 10,000 of its citizens from their homes and Gaza has turned into a terror base under the control of Hamas, and sponsored by Iran.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu said: “As part of the peace agreements, Israel expects the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The refugee problem will be solved outside of Israel, and a demilitarized Palestinian state will be established with international guarantees.”
He added: “These are not preconditions for launching negotiations, but are the basic conditions for establishing durable and stable peace between us and the Palestinians in the future.”
Netanyahu said Israel was ready to relaunch peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, Syria and with any other Arab nation with no preconditions.
“We support wholeheartedly US President Barack Obama’s regional initiative. As part of this, the Arab countries — mostly central Arab states — must make trust-building steps toward Israel,” he said.
