The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said Thursday it is ready to accept a one-year renewable truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported.
Hamas has told Egyptian mediators that the group will accept the truce if Israel pulls out its troops from Gaza within a week, said the report.
The Palestinian group that controls the coastal strip also asks for the reopening of its border crossings with international guarantees.
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Smoke rises during Israel's offensive in Gaza January 15, 2009. Israel unleashed its heaviest shelling of Gaza's crowded neighbourhoods on Thursday, hitting a U.N. compound and a media building in what might be a final push against Hamas before a ceasefire deal. [Xinhua/Reuters]? |
On Wednesday, a Hamas delegation presented a detailed vision to Egyptian mediators on a ceasefire in the embattled Gaza Strip.
Salah al-Bardawil, a member of the Hamas delegation for talks with Egyptian officials on Gaza ceasefire, said at a press conference here on Wednesday evening that "We have no difference with Egyptian leadership (on a ceasefire)."
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Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2009, shows heavy smoke rising from Gaza city after the bombing. Dozens of Israeli tanks entered southern Gaza City on Thursday as the army is pushing forward deep inside the city, local witnesses said. [Yin Bogu/Xinhua] |
On Thursday morning, head of the Israeli Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau Amos Gilad also arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian mediators on a ceasefire in Gaza.
According to Egyptian TV reports, Israel responded to the Egyptian ceasefire initiative "favorably“, but had some "reservations" on Hamas' vision.
The Israeli military offensive against Gaza since Dec. 27, 2008,has so far killed over 1,077 Palestinians and wounded nearly 5,000 others.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2009)