"Before we talk to Hamas about a hudna, the Palestinians have to stop firing," President Shimon Peres said at a reception in his honor in Kafr Kassem Friday.
"When there is no fire, there is no need for pressure," he told reporters. "Today there is not a single [Israeli] citizen or soldier in Gaza, so why are they firing? Let them stop shooting first. We are not their enemies and Israel is not seeking to capture Gaza. What Israel is doing is self defense."