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Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshal. (AP)
Last update - 01:54 27/04/2008
Meshal: Hamas ready for truce, but only as 'tactic'
By Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies
Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Israel, Egypt

Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshal on Saturday said the Palestinian militant group would accept an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire with Israel but it would only be a "tactic" in the group's conflict with Israel.

"It is a tactic in conducting the struggle - It is normal for any resistance that operates in its people's interest... to sometimes escalate, other times retreat a bit," Meshal said in an interview with pan-Arab Al-Jazeera television.

"The battle is to be run this way and Hamas is known for that," he added.
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The Hamas leader said his group was ready to cooperate in the six-month truce Egypt had proposed a between the Hamas rulers of Gaza and Israel.

He also warned of an explosion of violence in Gaza if Israel rejected the truce.

In his Al-Jazeera interview, Mashaal criticized the Palestinian Authority run by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for holding peace negotiations with Israel but hindering reconciliation talks with Hamas. Abbas, the moderate head of Fatah faction, runs a rival government to Hamas in the West Bank.

Mashaal said the split between the Palestinians is a crime.

Earlier on Saturday, Meshal said Hamas is awaiting an Israeli response to the proposed truce. He made the comments speaking to reporters in Doha.

Meshal said the Palestinian militant group requested that Egypt provide a document with Israel's agreement outlining the terms and conditions of the truce, among them the opening of the Gaza Strip border crossings.

The Damascus-based Hamas leader added that the group's leadership would convene following Jerusalem's reply in order to decide how to respond to the Egyptian initiative.

On Friday, Israel dismissed a proposal by Hamas to call a conditional six-month truce in the Gaza Strip, calling it a ruse aimed at allowing the Islamist group to recover from recent fighting.

"Hamas is biding time in order to rearm and regroup. There would be no need for Israel's defensive actions if Hamas would cease and desist from committing terrorist attacks on Israelis," a spokesman from the Prime Minister's Office, David Baker said.

"To Israel's dismay, Hamas is not serious. It's playing games, trying to buy time in order to regroup and rearm," said Baker.

In apparent reference to Israel Air Force strikes and commando raids in Gaza, Baker added: "Israel will continue to take all measures to defend its civilians," he said.

A delegation from Hamas on Thursday told Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman that Hamas is prepared to accept a temporary cease-fire with Israel, to begin in the Gaza Strip. The deal would extend after a predetermined time to the West Bank.

Hamas had previously demanded that a truce apply simultaneously to both areas, but Israel refused.

The delegation from Gaza that met with Egyptian mediators included senior Hamas representatives Mahmoud Zahar and Saeed Seyam, who arrived in Cairo after consultations with Hamas leaders in Damascus.

According to Hamas' truce announcement, Israel would immediately cease all military activity in the Gaza Strip: arrests, assassinations and field operations. In return, Hamas would ensure an end to cross-border rocket fire at Israel or other militant operations, including arms smuggling into Gaza.

In addition, Israel and Egypt would permit the opening of the Rafah crossing, and ease cargo shipments into and out of the Strip.

Suleiman has called a meeting for next week with representatives of all the Palestinian factions to discuss the planned truce, as well as resolving the internal Palestinian conflict.

At the end of the meeting next week, Egypt is set to announce that a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is in effect.

Israel on Thursday refrained from responding officially to Hamas' announcement. In conversations with Egyptian mediators in recent days, Israel clarified its position on the truce proposal and apparently accepted most of its details.

Now Israel will monitor Hamas' compliance with its commitments to Egypt. If Hamas manages to keep things calm and rein in terrorist activity by the other Palestinian factions, the Israel Defense Forces will be instructed to refrain from taking offensive action in the Gaza Strip.

No such order was given on Thursday. Apparently, however, as of Friday a more cautious approach will be put in place for authorizing such operations, taking into consideration the new situation. Activity will focus on immediate warnings of planned terror attacks, which must be dealt with.

So far, the army has not received orders to lift - even partially - the blockade on the Gaza Strip crossings.

Routine IDF activity
Before dawn on Thursday, before Hamas made its announcement, IDF troops from the Givati and Golani brigades operated in the southern and northern parts of the Gaza Strip. The IDF said this was routine anti-terror activity in these sectors.

During this activity the IDF arrested 30 Palestinians for interrogation in Israel. There were also several airstrikes against armed Palestinian cells, some of which the IDF reported hitting.

IDF soldiers operating east of Khan Yunis clashed with Palestinian militants. According to Palestinian sources, three armed members of Islamic Jihad were wounded in the firefight.

On the outskirts of Beit Hanun, a Givati force searching areas from which Qassam rockets are launched at Sderot clashed with armed Palestinians, the IDF said. It said an Israeli aircraft fired a missile at militants, and Palestinian sources claimed a 52-year-old civilian man was killed.

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      1.   ACCEPT HAMAS OFFER AND RAISE GAZA BLOCKADE 00:59  |  JH 25/04/08
      2.   crazy idea 01:17  |  vik 25/04/08
      3.   Israel kidnaps 30 Palestinians.. 01:30  |  *BEN JABO 25/04/08
      4.   Hamas 01:59  |  Randy 25/04/08
      5.   ISRAELI TERRORISM MUST END AS WELL 02:04  |  JH 25/04/08
      6.   Staged Implementation 02:06  |  Matthew Houston 25/04/08
      7.   Israel wont agree to a West Bank truce because : 02:11  |  MOE 25/04/08
      8.   The Hamas Leaders Don`t Know How to Be Decent 02:15  |  ddd 25/04/08
      9.   The ayatollahs dance once again in Tehran tonight 02:17  |  Dr, Dave 25/04/08
      10.   You know what Hamas can do with their ceasefire proposal? 02:19  |  Conroy 25/04/08
      11.   Isreal & Gaza Cease Fire 02:22  |  marilyn boyd 25/04/08
      12.   No, this is the Middle East 02:31  |  Realist 25/04/08
      13.   1 # since peace is not on Hamas` agenda you are a fool 03:02  |  McQueen 25/04/08
      14.   The last ceasefire 03:08  |  Tom 25/04/08
      15.   Arabs never agree to anything peaceful if they can be violent 03:13  |  Genuine Tosefta 25/04/08
      16.   #3 The retard is at it again - Another fake post 03:23  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
      17.   In Accepting what Dhimmedias Portray as Compromise 03:27  |  Joseph . E 25/04/08
      18.   #5 JH - You have it backwards, as usual 03:29  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
      19.   #11 Marilyn Boyd - CA 03:34  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
      20.   Amos Harel Dhimmitude 04:11  |  Joseph . E 25/04/08
      21.   Al-Qaeda: Yes to More Attacks in the West; No Hudna With Israel 04:29  |  Joseph . E 25/04/08
      22.   #16 The retard is at it again - Another fake post 04:31  |  *BEN JOBO 25/04/08
      23.   HAMAS WILL NEGOTIATE MCQUEEN`S AD HOMINEM ATTACK DIMINISHES SELF 05:21  |  JH 25/04/08
      24.   re 1 JH and in breeding 05:29  |  Alan the real one 25/04/08
      25.   ISRAELI TERROR IS REAL, BEN JABO IS APOLOGIST FOR ROGUE NATION 05:36  |  JH 25/04/08
      26.   Israeli establishment suffers from a tribal affliction... 06:02  |  Dutch 25/04/08
      27.   Hamas politicos sign truce but have no control over terrorists 06:33  |  Voice of Reason 25/04/08
      28.   REPLY TO "ALAN THE REAL ONE" WHO INSULTS ONLY HIMSELF 06:37  |  JH 25/04/08
      29.   the world`s king of beggars 06:39  |  real vision 25/04/08
      30.   #25 JH - let me clue you in on some facts 06:46  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
      31.   #23 JH - You`re rude when you type in all caps 06:48  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
      32.   Re 26 Good teachers 06:51  |  Alan the real one 25/04/08
      33.   JH you don`t have the facts straight 07:09  |  AG 25/04/08
      34.   Fuzzy logic JH on Land grab issue 07:26  |  AG 25/04/08
      35.   #8 DDD 07:33  |  Lev 25/04/08
      36.   #25 JH - First of all, typing in caps is considered RUDE 07:42  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
      37.   Hamas truce is not worth the paper its written on 08:20  |  Shepherd 25/04/08
      38.   The Gazan ?innocent civilians? 08:43  |  Jean Van Daem 25/04/08
      39.   # 15 Dead end reasoning 09:27  |  Vinegar Hill 25/04/08
      40.   Israel needs a war with Hamas to continue expansion 09:59  |  Natallie Durson 25/04/08
      41.   Israel and its people can not afford permitting Hamas to continue 10:06  |  Amihai 25/04/08
      42.   Routine operations, say the IDF....... 11:03  |  Johnboy 25/04/08
      43.   Ruses about ruses 11:20  |  sh 25/04/08
      44.   Don`t despair, Israel. Keep your grain of faith and hope ! 11:22  |  Fortuna Benmayor 25/04/08
      45.   ISRAEL DOES NOT WANT PEACE. 12:06  |  Duffer 25/04/08
      46.   THE CORRECT ANSWER 12:17  |  ANUAR AL SADAT 25/04/08
      47.   Truces and killings... 12:30  |  Esther 25/04/08
      48.   Truce When All Hamas are Dead or in Prison 12:42  |  Mark Hamil 25/04/08
      49.   Why is Israel always "snubbing" the good things.....???? 12:53  |  Swiss (Dino) 25/04/08
      50.   johnboy logic is a problem for you 13:12  |  zevulun 25/04/08
      51.   Are Israel´s leaders stupid? 13:26  |  Daniel 25/04/08
      52.   What`s wrong with that? 13:43  |  The Northern Wind 25/04/08
      53.   Hamas and liberation 13:46  |  Vinegar Hill 25/04/08
      54.   "Dismisses Hamass truce".Time to dismisse all the Palestinians 14:16  |  Akram Zekaria 25/04/08
      55.   the zio-state should give up the occupation 14:17  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
      56.   Esther #46 "So what is such a ceasefire worth...?!" 14:36  |  S 25/04/08
      57.   Evasion of Responsibility 14:51  |  NEJ 25/04/08
      58.   seems like its business as usual for the idf 14:53  |  eric 25/04/08
      59.   Esther, it is not possible to be more irrelevant 15:07  |  Natallie Durson 25/04/08
      60.   #48 Swiss (Dino) 15:07  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
      61.   #46 Ester - TA "MAZAL TOV" 15:11  |  * BEN JABO 25/04/08
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