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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/12/AR2008031203093.html
Hamas Offering Israel Truce, Not Peace
[AP/Washington Post] Steven Gutkin - Hamas is once again offering Israel a cease-fire, but the language that the Islamic movement has chosen reveals a deep reluctance to talk about any real peace with the Jewish state. Ismail Haniyeh, Gaza's Hamas prime minister, on Wednesday proposed a "tahdiya" - a loosely defined period of calm that falls short of a formal cease-fire and can be broken off at any time. Israel sees a broad Iranian-driven effort to besiege it from the north through Hizbullah in Lebanon and from the south through Hamas, and fears a truce will simply give Hamas time to regroup and strengthen its fighting forces. Israeli political analyst Efraim Inbar said the benefit of a tahdiya is that "they're no longer firing on us." In the long run, however, he said "it is very problematic to leave a terror group like that in place without taking care of it militarily."