Hamas rejects Gaza-only cease-fire

Hamas' delegation to Egypt has rejected the draft of an initiative for a cease-fire between the Islamist organization and Israel, saying it must apply to the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip. Israel, meanwhile, killed five Palestinians over the weekend. The northern Negev was hit by six Qassam rockets fired from the Strip, causing no casualties.

During talks in Cairo, the members of the delegation - headed by Hamas deputy political leader Moussa Abu Marzouk - said they could not accept the current draft of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' 10-point cease-fire initiative.

According to the proposal, Hamas must first halt the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel before the armistice is applied in the West Bank.

Hamas' Gaza spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, told Haaretz that Hamas informed the parties in Cairo that it will not agree to a distinction between the West Bank and the Strip. "We've had a bad experience with the occupation. We will agree only to a total cease-fire both in the West Bank and the Strip."

Israel is refusing Hamas' demand that the cease-fire be extended to the West Bank in light of the repeated attempts to launch suicide bombers from the West Bank into Israel. Such a cease-fire would prevent Israel from apprehending terrorists there.

Meanwhile, troops of the Israel Defense Forces killed two Palestinian teenagers in the Gaza Strip Friday near the border with Israel. Later that day, Israel assassinated an Islamic Jihad activist in the Strip - the first Palestinian casualty since the renewal of the assassination policy two weeks ago. Last night, the IDF killed two militants in Nablus.

Before they were shot, the two Palestinian teenagers - 11-year-old Ahmed Abu-Zbeida and 13-year-old Zaher al-Majadlawi - had approached the fence separating the Strip from Israel. They came within several dozen yards from the fence in the northern Strip, near the former settlement Dugit. The two teenagers were accompanied by a 16-year-old Palestinian.

Soldiers stationed near the border fired at the three after they ignored shouts to stop and warning shots, killing the two teenagers. The 16-year-old Palestinian sustained moderate wounds and was rushed to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment.

The soldiers said they fired at the Palestinians because they thought the teenagers had been trying to lay a roadside bomb there. Palestinian sources said the teenagers had been looking for building materials to sell.

Several hours after the incident, the IDF assassinated an Islamic Jihad operative in Khan Yunis in the center of the Gaza Strip. The man, Fadi Abu-Mustafa, a senior member of the organization's military wing, was assassinated from the air while riding his motorcycle.

Abu-Mustafa's assassination was the first since Israel renewed its policy of assassinations in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago. The defense establishment believes that Abu-Mustafa had been involved in planning several terrorist attacks in the last four years.

Last night, IDF troops operating in Nablus killed two armed Palestinian militants in two separate incidents. In addition, the IDF blasted stone barricades that Palestinian militants had placed in the center of Nablus to prevent security forces from apprehending wanted persons in the city. One Palestinian woman was lightly wounded.

The northern Negev has seen a decrease in the number of Qassam rockets fired at it by militants from the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, a Sderot house sustained damage from a rocket that landed nearby. Islamic Jihad announced it had carried out the attack as revenge for the assassination the previous day. On Friday, Palestinian militants fired five more rockets, with one of them causing damage in a kibbutz in the region.