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Hamas warned: Truce, or war
21/02/2003 21:35 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Israel has told the hardline Islamic movement Hamas to abide by an Egyptian-drafted ceasefire document or face all-out war, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Friday.
The paper said Israel sent emissaries last month to inform Hamas officials it was ready to make a gesture if the group were to accept a ceasefire.
But the tone hardened on Monday when it warned Hamas against turning down a truce document reportedly being drafted by Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, and dubbed the Palestinian "National Project Plan".
Cairo has hosted several Palestinian inter-factional ceasefire talks since last November.
But the meetings have failed to produce results and several hardline groups, including Hamas, have pledged to continue their armed operations against Israel.
Haaretz noted that the document called for a year-long suspension of attacks against Israeli targets, including soldiers, Jewish settlers or civilians.
However, a senior Hamas official denied the existence of any such Egyptian-drafted ceasefire document or contacts with Israeli mediators.
"We were not informed of the existence of such document and (have not received) any such message from the Zionist enemy, either written or spoken," said Abelaziz Rantissi, while still dismissing Israel's "threats".
'Israel's crimes continuing'
He said Hamas was committed to "defending the Palestinian people, his land and holy places".
And Islamic Jihad spokesperson in the Gaza Strip, Sheikh Abdallah Asshami, added that his group "cannot abide by a truce ... (while) the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation are continuing".
"It is up to the occupation forces to come up with a proposal to put an end to its presence and its crimes," he said, and also pledging to continue fighting Israel.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has made repeated and so far unheeded calls for an end to attacks against Israeli civilians.
However, he has stopped short of urging a halt to attacks against soldiers of settlers, who are considered legitimate targets by armed groups.
But the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) number two, Mahmud Abbas, announced on Friday on a visit in Moscow that the Palestinian leadership was calling for a one-year "demilitarisation" of the uprising as a step towards implementing a Middle East peace "roadmap".
Turned up the heat
The roadmap, drafted by the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, envisions the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.
Haaretz said Egypt will convene 12 Palestinians factions later this month before an anticipated US-led strike against Iraq to hear their final answer to the document.
Rantissi said no date had yet been announced for the renewed talks, but confirmed his group would participate.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is slated to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak soon, while Cairo will also host an Arab League summit on March 1.
Israel has turned up the heat on Hamas over the past week, killing at least half a dozen of its operatives after the group blew up an army tank in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing its four-member crew.
The Jewish state's defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, pledged to hit the group's infrastructure in its Gaza bastion. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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