Israeli President Shimon Peres briefed US President Barack Obama on Wednesday about Israel's killing of the Hamas military commander in Gaza, saying the man was a "mass-murderer", Peres's office said in a statement.

The former Israeli prime minister, told Obama that the killing of Hamas's Ahmed al-Jaabari was Israel's response to a surge in cross-border Palestinian rocket and mortar salvoes from Gaza.

"Israel is not interested in stoking the flames, but for the past five days there has been constant missile fire at Israel and mothers and children cannot sleep quietly at night," Peres was quoted as telling Obama.

"There is a limit to what Israel can absorb," said Peres, who visited the Israeli border town of Sderot on Wednesday.

As a presidential candidate in 2008, Obama came to Sderot and voiced sympathy with residents under threat of rocket attack from nearby Gaza. He raised that visit during his successful campaign for re-election this month, after being accused by Republican rival Mitt Romney of being soft on Israel's security.

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