Sderot mayor denies calling for cease-fire talks with Hamas

Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal sought to clarify Saturday remarks published in the British daily The Guardian, saying he does not believe Israel should conduct cease-fire talks with Hamas in order to bring an end to the incessant Qassam rocket fire that has plagued the western Negev town.

"During the interview I said that I believe we must not talk to Hamas, and that the Israeli government must not talk to Hamas," said Moyal.

"The reporter asked me what I would be willing to due for the residents of Sderot in order to stop this situation, and I answered that, as a citizen, and in order to defend the lives of Sderot residents, I would be willing to go anywhere and talks to Hamas, and with the devil himself.

Moyal was quoted as telling The Guardian that he would be willing to negotiate directly with Hamas in an effort to reach a cease-fire and halt the near daily barrages of Qassam rockets that have plagued his town.

"I would say to Hamas, let's have a cease-fire, let's stop the rockets for the next 10 years and we will see what happens," Moyal, who is officially a member of the Likud, was quoted as saying. "For me as a person the most important thing is life and I'm ready to do everything for that. I'm ready to talk to the devil."

The Guardian reported that the mayor said a dialogue with Hamas offers Israel the best alternative to a major military offensive in Gaza, which would result in "innocent people being killed on both sides."

"Maybe one day in the future we will lose our patience and our values and invade," he said. "Imagine 20 kids [in Sderot] being killed in a kindergarten by a missile - then the Israel government would have to act and would lose its morality. If we don't talk we go deeper and deeper into war. If we don't talk we should fight."

Moyal told the paper he was invited to participate in talks with Hamas in Egypt, but the initiative never bore fruit due to it being "complicated."

"I believe that if they call me again I will be ready to do it. I will do the best I can to have that meeting," Moyal told The Guardian.

Former Shin Bet chief Yaakov Peri told Israel Radio on Saturday that the government should pursue direct talks with Hamas so as to expedite a prisoner swap for abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.

Israelis show solidarity with SderotMore than 10,000 people came on Friday to Sderot to show their solidarity with the rocket-battered town.

To boost the town's faltering economy, the visitors bought groceries for Shabbat in the town's shops.

"This is one big carnival," Ilan Cohen, on of the organizers of the event, told Army Radio. "Thousands of people are on their way; 500 vehicles have departed from Tel Aviv. I'm urging everyone who can to come down here. We have all sorts of people."

On Thursday, dozens of residents of Sderot and neighboring communities in the western Negev held a protest in Tel Aviv, where they called for the government to take swift military action to fight the daily onslaught of Qassam rockets targeting their communities.

The protestors were joined by local council heads from the Negev, including leaders from Be'er Sheva and Mitzpe Ramon, both of which are far outside of the range of Qassams.

Moyal said the protest was held in order to "bring the struggle to Tel Aviv so that everyone will see there is no difference between Sderot and the center of the country."

Moyal vowed to take the protest to Haifa and other northern cities and promised the protest in Tel Aviv would stay there for many days to come.

In recent weeks, residents of the western Negev have held a number of protests in central Israel, including in front of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's residence in Jerusalem and outside Defense Minister Ehud Barak's house.

	Eli Moyal (Left) meets FM Livni (Center) and Dutch FM Maxime Verhagen in Sderot last month. (AP)