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Last update - 23:28 14/01/2009
Hamas: We accept Egypt's proposal for Gaza truce - with reservations
By Avi Issacharoff and Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters
Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Egypt 

Hamas representatives held a press conference in Cairo Monday evening following talks with Egyptian officials, and announced that they have accepted in principle an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire agreement to end the fighting between the Islamist group and Israel in the Gaza Strip, saying that they hoped that the Egyptian efforts will bring about an end to the aggression against the Palestinians.



The announcement came as Israel Defense Forces ground troops continued fighting Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip as Israel's offensive against Hamas infrastructure neared the end of its 19th day.
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Salah al Bardawil, the Hamas representative in the Palestinian parliament, said that Hamas is working toward achieving the following goals: an end to Israeli aggression in Gaza, the lifting of the siege on Gaza, the reopening of Gaza's border crossings, the rehabilitation of the Strip and a compensation for Gaza residents.

Al Bardawil hinted that Hamas had generally accepted the terms of the Egyptian proposal but demanded clarifications on several clauses. He said that the Egyptian initiative is the only one Hamas was presented with.

"We're not talking about amending the proposal, since it was presented by Egyptian President [Hosni] Mubarak, but this is a proposal that includes many phrases, and each side has the right to present its opinion and interpretation of these phrases. We have voiced our stance and our interests within the framework of this general outline and the guidelines anchored in the Egyptian proposal," al Bardawil said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmet Aboul Gheit said Monday evening that Hamas had accepted the Egyptian draft which calls for immediate end to aggression on Gaza, the opening of the border crossings and the withdrawal of Israeli forces inside the Strip. He said that Hamas representatives presented their stance to Egyptian intelligence officials, and that they in turn will relay the outcome of their talks to Israel.

Mohammed Nasser, a member of Hamas' political bureau who was present in the talks, voiced reservations regarding the announcement that the Egyptian proposal was acceptable to Hamas, saying that Hamas' willingness to cooperate with Egyptian efforts did not mean that they had accepted the proposal. "There are still clauses under discussion and we are still pushing the issue," he said.

Arab diplomats say Hamas is reluctant to accept a long-term ceasefire agreement right away. Israel, which wants an end to rocket attacks on its towns and guarantees that Hamas cannot smuggle in more weapons through Egypt, said it would not agree to a truce that allowed the Islamists to regroup and rearm.

"Israel seeks a durable quiet that contains a total absence of hostile fire from Gaza into Israel and a working mechanism to prevent Hamas from rearming," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Earlier Wednesday, the Saudi-owned Arabic language Al Arabiya TV reported that under the Egyptian proposal, Hamas had agreed to abide by the 2005 agreement which calls for Palestinian Authority forces to man the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt under the supervision of European observers.

Hamas conditioned the cease-fire agreement with Israel on the immediate withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip, Al Arabiya reported.

Meanwhile, a Hamas leader said that points of contention remained over the Egyptian proposal.

"There are still points of difference on the initiative and these points have not been resolved so far," Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon, said in an interview broadcast on Al Jazeera television.

"The initiative in its present form does not realize the [Palestinian national] interest. Specific points in it have to be changed... We believe there is no initiative which cannot be modified or changed," he added.

The original proposal was for a temporary truce to allow for talks on long-term arrangements to secure the Egypt-Gaza border and end the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

But the proposal may have changed during secret negotiations mediated by Egypt over the past week.

U.S. White House spokesperson Dana Perino said Monday that "we have every right to be skeptical of things that you see in the newspaper reported about Hamas. And so I think we need to wait and see what actually happens. And as things develop, we'll comment from here."

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      1.   Said it before, I`ll say it again. Lebanon 2006, Gaza 2009... 19:24  |  bat yam 14/01/09
      2.   Israel has achieved its goals 19:30  |  Yarom 14/01/09
      3.   we hope 19:31  |  David 14/01/09
      4.   Another Really Bad Truce For Israel 19:34  |  Barak Failures 14/01/09
      5.   Mission Not- Accomplished 19:40  |  Phil 14/01/09
      6.   Dime Weapons 19:40  |  tinda 14/01/09
      7.   Israel loses again... 19:41  |  observer 14/01/09
      8.   Conditions of a cease fire 19:41  |  SNS 14/01/09
      9.   Who won? 19:43  |  Joel Feinberg 14/01/09
      10.   Anything short of the elimination of Hamas is a loss for Israel 19:53  |  Terry 14/01/09
      11.   Finish them first 20:00  |  Stanley 14/01/09
      12.   Time to play THEIR game 20:01  |  Bruce 14/01/09
      13.   HAMAS Unconditional Surrender Not Cease Fire 20:04  |  meir elazar 14/01/09
      14.   To observer 20:06  |  Motale 14/01/09
      15.   More pro forma gas passing 20:09  |  Mark Lincoln 14/01/09
      16.   #5 Truce 20:11  |  Al. 14/01/09
      17.   NO ceasefire 20:11  |  lw 14/01/09
      18.   Who lost? ~300 women and children that were killed 20:12  |  Tupac 14/01/09
      19.   we won the battle but looks like we will loose the war 20:15  |  zionist forever 14/01/09
      20.   seize fire not without Gilead Shalit !!! 20:16  |  Jacob 14/01/09
      21.   War Objectives 101 20:19  |  Lonestar 14/01/09
      22.   4 20:28  |  zionist forever 14/01/09
      23.   Not true 20:32  |  Asad 14/01/09
      24.   "Joel Feinberg" 20:35  |  michhell 14/01/09
      25.   Me again.. 20:36  |  Asad 14/01/09
      26.   Victory 20:42  |  Sebastian 14/01/09
      27.   people living abroad have no right to a say 20:43  |  michelle 14/01/09
      28.   NEXT STEP IN THE PLAN OF IRAN !. 20:47  |  Orao Stranka. 14/01/09
      29.   Who won what? A death is a death. 20:47  |  Ron 14/01/09
      30.   Israel won 20:57  |  Publius 14/01/09
      31.   Zarqa 22:12  |  Matthew 14/01/09
      32.   SNS 22:13  |  Ardi 14/01/09
      33.   Will be no cease fire 22:13  |  Levi 14/01/09
      34.   Hamas "accepts" 22:14  |  Angel 14/01/09
      35.   Fighting to the end 22:18  |  Mike 14/01/09
      36.   No Truce. Finish the job. 22:18  |  Chas 14/01/09
      37.   I am disapointed 22:30  |  Hanna 14/01/09
      38.   I wouldnt... 22:42  |  jim 14/01/09
      39.   That`s no truce! Cut the crap already! 22:42  |  SG 14/01/09
      40.   Hamas accepts Egypts plan--as usual dee devil is in dee deetails. 22:53  |  Sarah 14/01/09
      41.   Waste of lives..... 23:00  |  David Scott 14/01/09
      42.   Ballroom dancing with Hamas. 23:16  |  Stephen. 14/01/09
      43.   Israel must destroy Hamas 01:01  |  Duarte 15/01/09
      44.   Wondering if you won or lost 01:04  |  H50 15/01/09
      45.   Any ceasefire that allows Hamas to carry/parade with weapons is a 01:14  |  common sense 15/01/09
      46.   Transparent Word Games By Hamas 01:21  |  Brad 15/01/09
      47.   #41 They stated their objective ... stop the rockets/mortars 01:21  |  DesMnsDave 15/01/09
      48.   Topple Them 01:21  |  Jane 15/01/09
      49.   "coup d`etat" within Hamas? 01:36  |  a wandering Jew 15/01/09
      50.   The Western World 01:43  |  Niall 15/01/09
      51.   Gilad Shalit 01:57  |  David Rabenowitz 15/01/09
      52.   No ceasefire, destroy Hamas 01:57  |  George55 15/01/09
      53.   Victory 02:20  |  The Prophet 15/01/09
      54.   Great Job On Covering The Slaughter..Er War Haaretz 02:22  |  sean 15/01/09
      55.   ggggggggg 02:24  |  moody 15/01/09
      56.   The hidden cost of this attack 02:29  |  honestywithoutmercy 15/01/09
      57.   HAMAS & Co cannot be trusted. Any QASSAM or MORTAR should be..... 02:34  |  Vittorio 15/01/09
      58.   Truce, what truce. 02:37  |  Poco Loco 15/01/09
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