JERUSALEM POST: PA calls on Hamas to halt Kassam attacks

For the first time in three years, the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday called on Hamas to halt its rocket attacks on Israel.

The appeal came as Hamas marked the third anniversary of the launching of the first Kassam rocket on a settlement in the Gaza Strip.

"We must have the courage to admit that the firing of mortars and rockets is not only a mistake, but a sin because they could harm civilians," said the editor of the PA's official news agency Wafa.

PA officials have in the past made indirect calls for halting the firing of rockets by arguing that such methods harm the national interests of the Palestinians and give Israel an excuse to launch military operations in the Gaza Strip.

A senior PA official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that the decision to publicly call on Hamas to stop the rocket attacks was the result of increased complaints by Palestinians living in areas where the IDF carried out military operations in recent weeks.

"Israel is using the rocket attacks as an excuse to escalate its aggression against our people," he explained. "We are under pressure to stop the rockets because dozens of families have lost their homes."

However, Hamas responded by vowing to step up the rocket attacks and develop more sophisticated weapons.