"We need to reach an immediate cease fire, end the escalation, and end the suffering of the residents on both sides of the Gaza border" says former Knesset Member Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom activist. "Shooting a missile at a civilian bus transporting pupils is a heinous act which deserves the most sharp of condemnations, but also the State of Israel cannot claim a pristine innocence when its bombings of Gaza in the past few days caused the death of at least six unarmed civilians. including a mother and daughter killed in a direct hit on their home. While undoubtedly there is no explicit intention to harm civilians, this does not change the fact that in practice civilians do get injured and killed all the time. This must be stopped with no further delay. If the government sought to launch demonstratively a massive painful retaliation, this point was already proven several times over. Throughout history, ever since human beings began to fight each other, they also found ways of agreeing on a cessation of fighting – and so it should be done now, too."

Avnery added that a ceasefire is, in itself. not enough. "Without a fundamental change in the situation, a cease-fire would collapse sooner or later and we will get back to further cycles of gunfire and bloodshed. We should put an end to the siege of Gaza and the situation in which the State of Israel controls the amount of food entering the Gaza Strip and anonymous officers determine how many calories a resident of the Gaza Strip should consume. Instead of preparing for another naval confrontation with the next Gaza flotilla, we should announce that the Port of is wide open for the entry of boats which do not carry armaments, so as to help rebuild Gaza's economy. Instead of going on with a futile boycott of Hamas, the Palestinians should be actively encouraged to overcome their rift and achieve a unity government whould could represent the entire Palestinian People. It is in Israel's clear interest that such a government would be established and become our negotiating partner. An agreement reached with such a government would have a far greater value and significance than an agreement with a single Palestinian faction."