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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hamas and Israel trade warnings as end of truce nears |
| 2008-12-16 |
| Israel and Hamas ratcheted up the rhetoric on Monday ahead of the expiry of a six-month Gaza truce which the Islamist rulers of the Palestinian enclave say they are hesitant to renew due to violations of the deal by the Jewish state. Hamas political supremo Khaled Meshaal made it clear on Sunday the Islamists were unlikely to renew the truce. "Given that the enemy is not respecting its commitments and the blockade is still in place against our people, for Hamas, and I think for the majority of forces, the truce ends after December 19 and will not be renewed," he said in a television interview with the movement's Al-Quds satellite television. Israel began its blockade of the impoverished territory, where half of the population depends in international aid, after Hamas beat Fatah in parliamentary elections in 2006. The Jewish state further tightened its hold on the enclave after Hamas took power by force in what many have termed a pre-empting of a US-backed Fatah offensive aimed at ridding Gaza of the Islamists. Under the conditions of an Egyptian-mediated truce inked in June, Israel was to lift its siege of Gaza if Hamas reigned in rocket attacks. However, while the Islamists managed to virtually halt the attacks, Israel never complied with its commitments. |
| Posted by:Fred |