GAZA CITY, 31 May 2007 — Israel yesterday said it was not considering a cease-fire with the Hamas group despite appeals from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah as two Hamas fighters were killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
Noting a “relative decrease in Qassam rocket launchings,” Israel’s security Cabinet decided to continue “attacks and military pressure on terrorist groups, mainly Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said in a statement.
“It was emphasized (at the meeting) that Israel is not conducting any negotiations for a cease-fire with the terrorist organizations,” the statement said.
On Tuesday, Abbas proposed a truce covering the Gaza Strip, and then extending the cease-fire to the occupied West Bank within a month.
Hamas, which formed a unity government with Fatah two months ago, says any cease-fire must include an immediate end to all Israeli attacks in both territories, a demand rejected repeatedly by Israel.
“We in the Palestinian government are in favor of a reciprocal and simultaneous calm ... in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The ball is now in the Israeli court,” Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said after meeting Abbas in Gaza.
Abbas will meet Olmert on June 7 and prospects for any revival of peacemaking have been clouded by the current surge of violence. An Olmert spokeswoman said the talks could take place in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank city of Jericho. Hamas and other groups have fired more than 270 rockets from Gaza, killing two Israelis, over the past two weeks. Israel has hit back mainly with airstrikes, killing nearly 50 Palestinians, most of them fighters.
At the security Cabinet meeting, one minister proposed destroying homes near rocket launching sites but no decision on the matter was taken, a government official said.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces detained the mayor of a small town near Nablus as part of a crackdown on Hamas politicians in the territory. Dozens of Hamas officials have been seized since last week.
An Israeli military spokeswoman, describing the early morning airstrike in Gaza, said a “group of armed terrorists” was targeted near Jabaliya refugee camp.
In addition to the two members of Hamas’ Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades killed in the attack, several people were wounded and a house was damaged, ambulance crews said.
In an interview with Britain’s Guardian newspaper, Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal defended the rocket attacks and said the conflict might be heading toward an explosion.
“The Palestinians are steadfast and there are many ways of resisting according to opportunities and conditions,” he said.
— With input from agencies
