Israel and Hamas 'negotiate unofficial truce' in Gaza

BBC News online - 24 October 2012

 

 

Hamas's military wing said it had been involved in firing dozens of rockets and mortars into southern Israel since Monday

Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement controlling Gaza, are said to have reached an unofficial ceasefire after days of deadly attacks.

The truce was negotiated with the help of Egypt but its exact terms and duration remain unknown, the BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza City reports.

Five have been injured in Israel, since rocket attacks began on Monday.

Israel retaliated with air strikes on Gaza City, killing at least four militants.

Schools were closed on both sides of the border for fear of more attacks.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to continue "targeted attacks" on militants launching rockets into Israel.

"We didn't ask for this escalation and didn't initiate it," he said. "But if it continues, we are prepared to embark on a far more extensive and penetrating operation."

On Wednesday, more than 70 rockets were launched into southern Israel, injuring five people, two critically, according to the Israeli military.

In response, Israeli aircraft and tanks targeted rocket launching sites in northern Gaza.

Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, confirmed it had been involved in firing dozens of rockets and mortars into Israel.

In a statement, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades and a smaller Gaza-based militant group, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), said: "These holy missions come in response to the repeated, continuous crimes of the enemy against our people."

The violence comes as the EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, visits the region to try to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

She was scheduled to meet Israeli President Shimon Peres and Mr Netanyahu. Her talks with Defence Minister Ehud Barak were cancelled on Wednesday so he could tour the border with Gaza
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On Thursday, Baroness Ashton will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad.

"This is a critical time for the wider Middle East," she said.

Hamas, which governs Gaza, is not even part of the peace process, which has seen little US engagement since direct negotiations collapsed two years ago, reports our correspondent.