Israel is examining a Hamas truce proposal delivered by Egypt, defense officials said, but violence persisted yesterday as a Hamas fighter was killed in what the group said was a clash with Israeli troops near the border with Gaza.Two senior Cabinet ministers yesterday urged Israel to examine any serious cease-fire proposal from Hamas, the group that does not recognize the Jewish state but which rules the Gaza Strip. “If a serious offer for a truce from Hamas reached us, I think we should examine it seriously,” Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters.
One of Israel’s deputy prime ministers and a member of the main coalition party Kadima, Mofaz ruled out direct political negotiations with the movement which seized control of Gaza in mid-June unless it recognizes Israel. “If Hamas comes to us with a serious proposal for a long-term truce, in my opinion Israel should not reject it. For that, it would not be vital for Hamas to recognize Israel first,” said Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. “What is essential is that it stop rocket fire and all other attacks against Israel from Gaza, and that it agrees to stop arms smuggling on the Egypt border,” Ben Eliezer told public radio. “Making recognition of Israel a precursor to negotiations would be the best way of torpedoing it from the beginning.”
Ben Eliezer linked dialogue with Hamas to the release of an Israeli soldier captured in June 2006 by Palestinian fighters on the Gaza border. In his opinion, Hamas was “showing signs of weariness” because of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and economic sanctions.
But the office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied that Israel was considering a cease-fire proposal from Hamas, blacklisted as a terrorist group. “Israel talks to the Palestinian Authority (headed by president Mahmoud Abbas) and not with extremists,” a government official said. “We will not let terrorist organizations continue to strike or regroup. We will continue to employ all necessary means to stop them from attacking our towns,” the official added.
A Hamas political official denied the movement was even offering a new truce proposal. “We can’t talk about a truce at a time when Israel is stepping up its attacks, especially during the holiday,” Ismail Radwan told AFP, referring to the Eid Al-Adha that began on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, thousands of mourners marched in funeral processions for seven fighters killed in clashes Thursday, with gunfire cracking in the air. “Our rifles will speak for us,” a song blasted from a loudspeaker.