Egypt hosts Gaza talks as Hamas eyes truce
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday as Cairo sought to mediate a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, where Hamas said it is willing to agree to a one-year truce.
But deadly violence flared anew in the Palestinian enclave as Israel carried out a new air strike, killing one Palestinian and wounding four, in response to fresh militant rocket fire.
Egypt has been trying to mediate a long-standing truce after Hamas and Israel announced ceasefires on January 18, ending a devastating 22-day war that killed more than 1,330 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
"We agree in principle with a one-year truce," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP in Gaza City ahead of the Cairo talks, but added that Hamas has not ruled out an 18-month truce proposed by the Egyptian mediators.
"Whether one year or a year and a half, it must be linked to the opening of all crossing points, including Rafah, and the lifting of the (Israeli) blockade," Barhum said.
Representatives of Hamas -- the Islamist movement which has controlled Gaza since it ousted forces loyal to Abbas in 2007 -- were also due in Cairo amid continued factional feuding.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal also attended the Mubarak-Abbas talks, which lasted two hours. Riyadh is a key force behind the Arab peace initiative to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
But Cairo's task as mediator has been complicated by violations on both sides of the January 18 ceasefires and an esclating feud between the two main Palestinian factions.
"They (Hamas) have taken risks with the blood of Palestinians, with their fate, and dreams and aspirations for an independent Palestinian state," Abbas charged after visiting wounded Palestinians hospitalised in Egypt on Sunday.
He also accused Hamas of trying to smash the Palestine Liberation Organisation and said he rejected talks with any group which did not recognise the PLO.
Hamas wants an immediate restructuring of the PLO, which was founded in 1964. Neither Hamas nor the radical Islamic Jihad organisation belongs to the Palestinian umbrella group.
Khaled Meshaal, who heads Hamas's politburo from exile in Damascus, said last week that the PLO had become obsolete and called for "a new national authority."
A Hamas delegation is due to meet Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on Tuesday, Mussa Abu Marzuk, deputy head of Hamas's politburo, told AFP.
He said Hamas insisted on an end to the blockade and did not accept Israel's demand for the release of a soldier captured in mid-2006 as a condition for ending the sanctions.
Israel is demanding an end to militant rocket and mortar fire from Gaza and arms smuggling.
"Israel does not negotiate with Hamas. Israel demands two conditions -- the total cessation of fire and an end to arms smuggling. Israel is only holding talks with Egypt on this issue," an Israeli official said.
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