Israeli president calls on Hamas to stop rockets

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday called on Hamas, the Islamic Palestinian movement that rules the Gaza Strip, to halt a four-day barrage of over 150 rockets fired into Israeli cities and towns, and warned that the army was ready to respond forcefully. "Hamas needs to decide if it wants a quiet and developing Gaza or an unruly Gaza with no hope," Peres told a group of college students in Tel Aviv. "There is no confusion -- if you want a normal life -- stop firing," Peres said. Palestinian militants in the coastal enclave fired a Grad rocket towards Israeli side Tuesday morning, although the projectile fell in an open area, causing no damage or physical injury to residents. In the afternoon, two rockets from Gaza hit at coastal Ashkelon, about five km from Gaza, with one causing damage to a farm hothouse. Some 50 Israelis have suffered minor wounds and traumatic shock from the blasts, which have destroyed homes and businesses in several areas. Meanwhile, Palestinian medical sources told Xinhua that a man died Tuesday of wounds sustained during Israeli artillery shelling at eastern Gaza City Saturday. The death toll on the Palestinian side during the cross-border hostilities has risen to seven, including five civilians, two militants, and 45 wounded, Gaza sources said. Peres, speaking to CNN on Monday, said of Hamas, "If they want to run their lives properly and serve their people properly, they cannot be permissive in killing and shooting at us..." Peres said an Israeli military response would include "all the means we can mobilize and we can use," according to Israel National News. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday that his government is weighing a number of measures in order to restore deterrence. "The current round of violence is clearly not over and we will decide how and when to retaliate once the need arises," Barak said in a statement.