The Hamas-led government said that it’s willing to restore its cease-fire with Israel if the Jewish state ends its military operations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, a spokesman said on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Hamas ended a 16-month truce with Israel last Friday after a deadly explosion on a Gaza beach killed seven members of a Palestinian family, an attack blamed by the Palestinians on Israel, which denies involvement.
"I spoke today with the prime minister and he said we definitely want quiet everywhere. We are interested in a ceasefire everywhere," Hamas’ spokesman Ghazi Hamad said in an interview on Israel Radio.
However, Hamad said the offer was conditional on Israel stopping its “aggression” against the Palestinians.
"We are ready to launch discussions with factions over stopping rocket firing but only if there is an Israeli commitment to cease all military attacks against all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank."
Israel continued its bombardments of Gaza even after Friday's tragedy. The deadliest attack was on Tuesday when an Israeli missile killed 11 people, including two schoolchildren.
On the other hand, Hamas fired several rockets towards southern Israel after the beach attack, but there has been a sharp drop in anti-Israeli attacks in recent days.
Israeli officials said today that the cessation is due to threats made by top members of Israeli premier Ehud Olmert’s party to assassinate senior Hamas leaders, including Prime Minister Ismael Haneya, if the rocket fire continued.
However, Israeli media reported that four rockets struck the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Thursday, lightly wounding two people.
The Islamic Jihad resistance group, which has never accepted the ceasefire, claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks.
Israel, along with the U.S. and Europe, classify Hamas as a terror group and imposed a trade embargo on the Palestinian government following Hamas' election victory in the January legislative polls.
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas escalated since the resistance group formed the government in March. More than 22 people have been killed in clashes between the two parties in the past two months.
One of the major problems between Hamas and Fatah is the control of the security services.
Israel and the West want President Mahmoud Abbas to win the power struggle and have tried to bolster his security forces. Hamas has warned that such attempts would worsen tensions.
According to Israel’s daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Olmert approved a shipment of weapons to Abbas, saying that he wanted to help the Palestinian president against Hamas.
The newspaper said that the Israeli government transferred 950 M-16 assault rifles from Jordan to Abbas' security forces.
"Any Israeli intervention in our internal affairs is rejected because the Israelis aim to sow divisions among the Palestinian people," said top Hamas MP Mushir al-Masri.
On the other hand, an Abbas’ aide denied the report.
Israel’s arms shipment to Abbas’ security forces could embarrass the president, especially after he intensified pressure on Hamas by calling for a referendum on a statehood plan that implicitly recognizes Israel.
Hamas argues that the July 26 referendum is unconstitutional, accusing Abbas of engineering a coup against its democratically elected government.
Hamas ended a 16-month truce with Israel last Friday after a deadly explosion on a Gaza beach killed seven members of a Palestinian family, an attack blamed by the Palestinians on Israel, which denies involvement.
"I spoke today with the prime minister and he said we definitely want quiet everywhere. We are interested in a ceasefire everywhere," Hamas’ spokesman Ghazi Hamad said in an interview on Israel Radio.
However, Hamad said the offer was conditional on Israel stopping its “aggression” against the Palestinians.
"We are ready to launch discussions with factions over stopping rocket firing but only if there is an Israeli commitment to cease all military attacks against all Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank."
Israel continued its bombardments of Gaza even after Friday's tragedy. The deadliest attack was on Tuesday when an Israeli missile killed 11 people, including two schoolchildren.
On the other hand, Hamas fired several rockets towards southern Israel after the beach attack, but there has been a sharp drop in anti-Israeli attacks in recent days.
Israeli officials said today that the cessation is due to threats made by top members of Israeli premier Ehud Olmert’s party to assassinate senior Hamas leaders, including Prime Minister Ismael Haneya, if the rocket fire continued.
However, Israeli media reported that four rockets struck the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Thursday, lightly wounding two people.
The Islamic Jihad resistance group, which has never accepted the ceasefire, claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks.
Israel, along with the U.S. and Europe, classify Hamas as a terror group and imposed a trade embargo on the Palestinian government following Hamas' election victory in the January legislative polls.
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas escalated since the resistance group formed the government in March. More than 22 people have been killed in clashes between the two parties in the past two months.
One of the major problems between Hamas and Fatah is the control of the security services.
Israel and the West want President Mahmoud Abbas to win the power struggle and have tried to bolster his security forces. Hamas has warned that such attempts would worsen tensions.
According to Israel’s daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Olmert approved a shipment of weapons to Abbas, saying that he wanted to help the Palestinian president against Hamas.
The newspaper said that the Israeli government transferred 950 M-16 assault rifles from Jordan to Abbas' security forces.
"Any Israeli intervention in our internal affairs is rejected because the Israelis aim to sow divisions among the Palestinian people," said top Hamas MP Mushir al-Masri.
On the other hand, an Abbas’ aide denied the report.
Israel’s arms shipment to Abbas’ security forces could embarrass the president, especially after he intensified pressure on Hamas by calling for a referendum on a statehood plan that implicitly recognizes Israel.
Hamas argues that the July 26 referendum is unconstitutional, accusing Abbas of engineering a coup against its democratically elected government.
