Mahmud Abbas, the leading candidate to win the upcoming Palestinian presidential election, condemned the firing of rockets towards Israeli settlements and towns by Palestinian fighters, saying the attacks had led to the death of Palestinian children.
"Someone asked me today about my opinion on the rockets attacks. I replied that I condemn them, regardless of who is responsible for them," the PLO chairman told a group of businessmen in Gaza City.
"Experience has shown that they usually fall in the desert or on our houses, killing our children," he added, according to AFP.
"Firing these rockets is of no use. These rockets only hurt our people and lead to (Israeli) aggressions and I am making no apologies for what I said."
A joint statement issued in the name of the main factions had described Abbas' remarks "as a stab in the back of the resistance".
