Hamas: We'll end rockets for West Bank cease-fire

[oberliner]

If Israel agrees to a temporary cease-fire in the West Bank, the Palestinian unity government will be able to get all the Palestinian factions to heed a general cease-fire, including in the Gaza Strip, a Hamas spokesman said on Monday.

The announcement followed a bloody day in Sderot that claimed the life of the first Israeli to be killed by a Qassam rocket since the escalation in rocket attacks from Gaza began a week ago.

In response to Monday's attacks, which saw more than a dozen Qassams land on Sderot, the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service said that they would step up their efforts to target the leaders of Palestinian terror organizations. These leaders "are in our sights," a security source told Haaretz on Monday.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/862159.html

[Violet_Crumble]

1. It seems a much better option than escalation of the violence n/t

[bemildred]

2. No, no, this is good ...

:sarcasm:

[pelsar]

3. and now lets make it complex....

that in itself is a good idea....but in the subterfuge of palestenian/israeli politics we have this underlying motivation:

hamas today controls gaza, fatah the westbank. If hamas can stop israeli arrests/raids etc in the westbank, then hamas will win over more of the population eventually perhaps taking over the westbank as well, which is obviously the plan (just as fatah would like to control gaza).

so do we have a catch 22?....temporarily lull in the fighting for a future bang? Is israel being setup?...or will a ceasefire and "quiet" result in a more relaxful environment and grow in to something better?.....

stay tuned.....

[Violet_Crumble]

4. I think the offer's already been rejected...

When I checked Ha'aretz just then, they've updated the story:

Minister Bar-On dismisses Hamas cease-fire offer as 'manipulation'

After more than a week of Israel Air Force attacks on Gaza and Qassam rocket strikes on southern Israel, Interior Minister Roni Bar-On on Tuesday dismissed a cease-fire offer by Hamas, calling it "a manipulation."

The Kadima lawmaker maintained that Israel "will not deal with Hamas. Anything we suffer, they will suffer ten times more. If they disturb the peace in Sderot, they will have no peace themselves."

[bemildred]

5. Yep. but this is NOT about pride or prestige or anything like that.

Heaven forfend anyone should be emotional or let their egos get involved.

[Eugene]

6. Gaza groups reject Abbas call not to shell Israel

Source: Reuters

Gaza groups reject Abbas call not to shell Israel
23 May 2007 19:52:42 GMT
Source: Reuters

GAZA, May 23 (Reuters) - Palestinian militants rejected a call by
President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday to stop firing rockets
into Israel from Gaza, saying that Israel should first call off
military operations there and in the West Bank.

"We cannot surrender to blackmail as planes are overhead. We
want a comprehensive calm that covers the Palestinian areas,
both south and north," Ibrahim Abu An-Naja, a spokesman for
militant factions that met Abbas in Gaza, told reporters after
the talks.


Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23701286.htm

[bemildred]

7. It's like an echo, isn't it?

Same f**king argument coming from the warhawks on both sides.