CAIRO, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Hamas said Thursday night
the group has accepted an 18-month truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip and that
a formal agreement might be announced in "two days."
"We agreed to the truce with the Israeli side for one
year and a half," Hamas' politburo deputy chief Moussa Abu-Marzouk said in a
statement carried by the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.
Six border crossings between Gaza and Israel should
be reopened and the Jewish country must "stop military actions and aggressions
in all forms," he said, without mentioning the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza
border, the only one that bypasses Israel.
Marzouk also said Egypt will announce the result of
the truce talks "within two days," after making contacts with Israel and other
Palestinian factions.
The breakthrough came after intensive talks between a
Hamas delegation led by Marzouk and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on
Thursday.
As for the prisoners swap, which was packaged by
Israel in its vision of the truce deal, Marzouk said the issue of Israeli
soldier Gilad Shalit should be excluded from the ceasefire terms, recommending a
separate settlement.
Shalit was taken captive by Hamas-led militants in a
cross-border raid in June 2006. Hamas demands Israel pardon more than 1,000
Palestinian prisoners from its jails in exchange for Shalit's release.
Israel refused the request for fear that some
prisoners on the list might endanger the Jewish country. However, outgoing
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who vowed to "clear his desk" before
stepping down, has offered to fully open the Gaza border crossings in exchange
for Shalit's release.
"We want the release of our prisoners in exchange for
the soldier," Marzouk said, adding that they have presented a list of
Palestinian prisoners to Egypt.
No Israeli response to the Hamas offer is available
so far.
Egypt has been endeavoring to mediate a lasting truce
to replace the fragile ceasefires, declared on Jan. 18 separately by both sides,
ending Israel's 22-day massive assault in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Hamas wants a long-term ceasefire with all border
crossings permanently opened and the tight blockade Israel imposed on Gaza Strip
since June 2007 lifted.
Israel aims to halt rocket attacks from Gaza haunting
southern Israeli communities and put an end to the arms smuggling through the
tunnel-ridden Egypt-Gaza border. It preferred an open-ended truce in which the
Gaza border crossings should be opened step by step.
About 1,300 Palestinians were killed and 5,500 others
wounded during the war, while 14 Israelis have died since the launch of the
deadly offensive in Gaza on Dec. 27.
GAZA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman for the Islamic
Hamas movement said Thursday night that a truce agreement with Israel mediated
by Egypt is expected to be declared within three days.
Taher al-Noono, who is currently in Cairo with a
senior Hamas delegation, said in a written statement sent to reporters in Gaza
that "it is expected to reach a clear truce agreement within the coming three
days." Full story
GAZA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has presented a new
modified draft for the Palestinian factions dealing more with the controversial
issues and amending an earlier document that called for holding simultaneous
elections to settle inter-Palestinian crisis, a senior Palestinian source said
Thursday.
Jameel al-Majdalawi, a senior member of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said the new Egyptian document
"specifies the committees that would be allocated for resolving the differences
and it also specifies the references for the compromise." Full story
CAIRO, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of rival
Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas held talks here on Tuesday for the
resumption of an inter-Palestinian national unity dialogue.
The meeting was attended by head of Fatah's
parliamentary bloc Azam al-Ahmad, the group's spokesman Ahmed Abdel-Rahman and
Hamas senior officials Gamal Abu-Hashim and Ayman Taha, the Egyptian MENA news
agency reported. Full story
GAZA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has invited Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of different factions to join a conference
to reconcile the feuding Palestinian groups later this month, Palestinian
sources said Tuesday.
Khaled Mashaal, Damascus-based exiled leader of the
Islamic Hamas movement, was also invited to the talks that are scheduled to
start on Feb. 22, during which his movement is awaited to reconcile with its
bitter rival Fatah movement led by Abbas, according to the sources. Full story
GAZA, Feb. 12
(Xinhua) -- Egypt has presented a new modified draft for the Palestinian
factions dealing more with the controversial issues and amending an earlier
document that called for holding simultaneous elections to settle
inter-Palestinian crisis, said a senior Palestinian source.
Jameel al-Majdalawi, a senior member of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), said the new Egyptian document
"specifies the committees that would be allocated for resolving the differences
and it also specifies the references for the compromise."Full story
GAZA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Thursday
partially reopened the three key Gaza Strip crossing points on the borders to
allow more humanitarian aid, a Palestinian official said.
Ra'ed Fatouh, the Gaza Strip crossings coordinator
told the press that Israel had informed the Palestinian side that it would
reopen the border crossings to allow 200 aid-laden trucks into the enclave. Full story
ANKARA, Feb. 11 (Xinhua)
-- Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on
Wednesday declared their commitment to make joint efforts to reach a permanent
ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
"We are working closely to prevent a repeat of the
tragedy in Gaza and to ensure a permanent truce," Gul told a joint press
conference after meeting with his Egyptian counterpart at Istanbul's Ciragan
Palace. Full story
