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Report: Hamas agrees to year-long Gaza truce from Thursday
Hamas has accepted an Egyptian proposal for a year-long truce with Israel in Gaza starting on Thursday, Al-Arabiya TV Sunday quoted sources in the Islamist militant group as saying. A Hamas delegation is expected to arrive in Cairo on Monday in order to give the group's final answer to the initiative. The official spokesman for Egypt's foreign ministry, Hossam Zaki, refused to confirm or deny the report on the Dubai-based Arabic satellite television station. According to the report, Hamas has agreed to the deployment along Gaza's border crossings of forces under the control of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the rival Fatah movement. The deal stipulates that the PA forces will coordinate their activities with Hamas. Hamas' acceptance of the deal apparently led Abbas to cancel a trip to the Czech Republic and travel to Cairo instead. Al-Arabiya reported that while in Egypt, Abbas discussed mechanisms that would enable the Gaza-Egypt border crossing at Rafah to be opened on Thursday, in parallel with an announcement by Hamas of the year-long truce in Gaza. Israel, according to the report, has agreed not to interfere in the running of the Egypt-Gaza border crossing. Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired at least four Qassam rockets and four mortar shells from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev on Sunday, with one rocket hitting between two kindergartens. Posted by: Fred 2009-02-02 |
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