GAZA CITY: A tense calm reigned over Gaza Strip yesterday as Hamas said it might be willing to agree to a new truce with Israel.

Hamas movement could consider extending a temporary truce and agreeing to a new long-term truce in the Gaza Strip, following the expiry on Friday of a six-month cease-fire, a senior Hamas leader told reporters yesterday.

Zahar said that Hamas is ready to renew the truce “if Israel respects the conditions of a cease-fire.” The conditions include lifting the blockade of the Palestinian enclave and stopping military raids on the besieged territory.

Speaking in Cairo, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said yesterday that a truce in Gaza was essential to advance the staggering Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

“Nothing will be possible if the truce is not continued, if there is no real truce,” he said.

Standing alongside Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Fillon repeated French support for Cairo’s efforts to further the Middle East peace process.

“With urgency, we are using all our efforts to end the blockade of Gaza. Naturally, we condemn acts of violence that are committed against Israel from the Gaza Strip. “We also condemn a blockade which makes the civilian population suffer, and which will not lead to a constructive situation.

“We want talks between Israel and Palestine to resume and we will use every effort to make this happen,” he added.

The European Union, of which France currently holds the rotating presidency, is ready “to participate in material, concrete ways to keep the peace as soon as an agreement is signed between Israelis and Palestinians,” Fillon said.

— With input from agencies