GAZA CITY, 20 December 2007 — Gaza’s embattled Hamas leaders are seeking a cease-fire after months of Israeli attacks and sanctions that have left the area isolated and mired in poverty — going so far as to make an unprecedented appeal through the Israeli media, a Hamas official confirmed yesterday.

The gesture came Tuesday after an especially bloody day in which the Israeli air force killed 12 fighters, including a top commander. Despite calls within his Cabinet for a truce with Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to continue targeting the leaders of militant groups whose rocket fire has tormented the lives of thousands in southern Israel.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh spoke of his frustrated efforts to promote a cease-fire in a phone conversation Tuesday with a reporter for Israel’s Channel 2 TV, said Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu.

Haniyeh spoke of a truce and said Israel must halt its offensive in Gaza for the violence to end. “The occupation should stop its attacks and siege,” Nunu said. “Then a truce would be possible, and not unlikely.”

The reporter who spoke to Haniyeh, Suleiman Al-Shafi, told the Associated Press that the Hamas leader complained that Israeli attacks have foiled his attempts to halt the rocket fire. Islamic Jihad, a smaller group, has been responsible for most of the attacks since Hamas seized control of the area last June from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

“I am always trying to stop the rockets from all factions, especially Islamic Jihad, but Israel’s assassinations always catch me off guard and spoil my attempts,” the reporter quoted Haniyeh as saying.

It was unclear who initiated the call. Al-Shafi said he was surprised by the phone call from Haniyeh and unable to record the conversation. Nunu said the Israeli reporter had called. Hamas officials said they have also sent overtures to Israel through unidentified third parties.

Olmert’s office wouldn’t confirm that such messages had arrived. And his spokesman, Mark Regev, said there would be no negotiations until Hamas recognizes Israel, renounces violence and accepts existing peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel and Hamas have never had direct contact because of the group’s violently anti-Israel ideology. But in the past, they agreed to short-lived truces negotiated by third parties.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza said Hamas had not approached his group about a cease-fire. “This is not a time for truce,” he told AP. “We have to inflict revenge upon this criminal enemy.”

Support for a cease-fire is growing in Olmert’s Cabinet. Yesterday, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister and military chief, suggested Israel might be willing to hold indirect contacts with Hamas to end the fighting.

As long as the rocket launchings continue, Israel will not “for even one hour” let up its attacks on Gaza militants, Mofaz told Army Radio. But “mediation is something we can think about.”

Abbas, who has renewed peace talks with Israel, has refused to speak to Hamas until it reverses the takeover.

In a speech marking Eid Al-Adha, a somber Haniyeh appealed for reconciliation among Palestinians.

“The Palestinians greet the feast differently from the other Muslim nations: with martyrs, with members of resistance dying, because of the crimes of the Zionist occupation, the assassinations that do not stop,” Haniyeh said. “We greet it with tears in our eyes, and sadness in our hearts.”

Abbas confidant Saeb Erekat said the president wasn’t involved in efforts to renew a Gaza truce, but that a cease-fire would be in the Palestinians’ interest.

“We have always urged a full cessation of violence in Gaza,” Erekat said. “We have always worked for a total calm. And we are still urging it.” The last Gaza truce broke down in May.

Since then, militant groups have bombarded Israeli communities bordering Gaza with crude rockets and mortar rounds. Although the inaccurate rockets cause little damage and few injuries, they have killed 12 people since 2001, and generate panic in the areas they target.

On Tuesday, Olmert vowed that Israel would not let up its operations against Gazans.

“We will continue to seek out the heads of the terror organizations,” Olmert told members of his Kadima Party in Jerusalem. “This war will not end.”

For months, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes and limited ground operations in response to the rocket attacks.

The four airstrikes that began late Monday and stretched into Tuesday morning were the most intensive aerial operation against Gazans since Hamas overran the territory.

Yesterday, Abbas allies were angered to learn Israel was looking into building 10,000 new apartments for Jews in east Jerusalem. Israeli Housing Minister Zeev Boim said he needed to find a solution to a housing shortage in the disputed city, but Olmert distanced himself from the project.

“There has been no decision taken, and there is nothing new,” his spokesman said.

Palestinians want the eastern sector of Jerusalem, which Israel captured from Jordan in 1967 and later annexed, for the capital of a future state. Though it would take years for construction to be approved and begin, Palestinians accused Israel of compromising negotiations that officially got under way last week after seven years of violence.

“Why would Israel opt for dictation instead of negotiations? Why would they destroy the prospect for peace with such activities?” Erekat asked.