State Department draws parallels between Israel & terrorists

(Arutz Sheva ) US State Department spokesman Ned Price made a statement that Israel and the Palestinian Arabs have an equivalent right to self-defense as Hamas launches hundreds of rockets on Israel’s southern and central regions and Israel retaliates by targeting terrorists.

“Israel has the right to defend itself and to respond to rocket attacks,” he said. “The Palestinian people also have the right to safety and security just as Israelis do.”

“Reports of civilian deaths are something that we regret and would like to come to a stop. We don’t want to see provocations,” Price said. “The provocations we have seen have resulted in a deeply lamentable loss of life.”

“ It’s hard not to look at those pictures and feel a sense of the suffering.”

“We call on all sides to exercise restraint and calm,” Price said, lamenting the loss of life on both sides and the hundreds of Arab rioters who were injured in clashes with Israeli police in Jerusalem prior to the rocket attack

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have launched nearly a thousand rockets at Israel since yesterday. Three women have been killed in the rocket attacks.