Warty NoseZahhar,
said Friday, despite the increase in rocket attacks from the Gazoo Strip."We declare our commitment to respecting the truce between us and the occupier," Zahhar told a gathering in the Gazoo town of Khan Younis.
"Despite the sacrifices, we announce that we continue to respect the truce," said Zahhar, who is considered the most influential Hamas leader in Gazoo.
And he called on Israel to reciprocate and "stop incursions [into Gazoo], halt killings of Paleostinians and lift the blockade" imposed on the coastal enclave.
Hamas, which controls Gazoo, says it has observed a de facto truce with Israel since the January 2009 end of a 22-day Israeli offensive on the strip aimed at halting rocket fire by Paleostinian bad turbans.
Attacks have since been considerably reduced but more than 200 rockets and shells, most of them homemade, have been fired into Israel since early 2010, according to the Israeli military.
More radical groups have since last Sunday targeted southern Israel with 23 rounds of mortar fire and three rockets, one of which slightly maimed a small girl, the military said.
Israel, which holds Hamas to account, has urged the UN Security Council to issue a "clear and resolute" message to Islamic fascisti against firing rockets into its territory from Gazoo, in a letter made public Wednesday.
In a tit-for-tat move, Hamas said it would appeal to the international body to act against the "threat of further aggression against the Paleostinians."