Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has condemned IDF counter-terrorist operations in Gaza, calling them a "massacre" that threatens negotiations between the PA and Israel. The IDF staged several raids on rocket launching cells the past several days following a sharp escalation in Kassam and mortar shelling attacks on the western Negev and as far north as Ashkelon.
Abbas questioned the Israeli government's "intentions with regard to the peace process, which should include the ceasing of all kinds of assaults, assassinations, killing, elimination and all other kinds of collective punishment, including the separation wall."
Abbas and PM are scheduled to meet soon, possibly as early as next week, in continuing efforts to agree on basic principles for the final status of a new Arab state on Judea, Samaria and Gaza.