President Peres' statements on phone call with Pope Francis

21 July 2014

President Peres' statements during a phone call with Pope Francis

(communicated by – Spokesperson and Media Adviser to the President)

His Holiness Pope Francis spoke to President Shimon Peres earlier today (Friday, 18 July 2014), and conveyed a messaged of coexistence, moderation and peace to the citizens of the region in light of the security situation.

President Peres thanked Pope Francis for his involvement and concern and said, "Right now there is fire, we are trying to do as much as we can to lower the flames because we do not consider the people of Gaza as enemies.

I know that the people of Gaza themselves didn't decide on this situation that they find themselves in. There is a small group of fanatics who are the cause of suffering in Gaza. Our operation is aimed to bring an end to two killing methods – the rockets from the sky and the tunnels from under the earth.

We have discovered two tunnels which were supposed to enable them enter into the heart of civilian life and kill indiscriminately. Fortunately we discovered it on time and prevented the murder.

Right now the main thing we are doing is to put an end to these tunnels and we are trying to see how to limit the confrontation, particularly with regard to the rockets which they fire at our civilians.

I hope it will not be a long lasting operation and I can assure you that our people are careful and will continue to be very careful not to cause damage and death to innocent peoples. We shall continue to search for a road to peace in spite of the fire and in spite of the failure to have a ceasefire because finally the solution must be political and not just military."

ENDS

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