[Ha'aretz] Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Jack Khoury - Hamas does not plan to extend its truce with Israel beyond Dec. 19, the Damascus-based head of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Meshal, said on Sunday. Israel informed Egyptian mediators on Sunday that it would like to extend the truce. Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry's political-security department, noted that Israel rejects Hamas' view that the truce is set to expire this Friday. The agreement reached last June included no expiration date, he insisted. Gilad said Israel will support extending the truce only if Hamas once again enforces a complete cease-fire. In recent weeks, though it has largely refrained from firing at Israel itself, Hamas has allowed other Palestinian groups to do so almost daily. On Sunday, Palestinians fired one Kassam rocket and three mortar shells at Israel.
2008-12-15 09:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive