Hamas stresses Gaza truce conditions amid fresh talks

CAIRO 

Palestinian resistance faction Hamas has reiterated rejection of any proposed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that ignores the group's conditions.

"Resistance factions are seeking a permanent solution," Moussa Abo Marzouk, Hamas leader who lives in Cairo, told Anadolu Agency.

"We are not complicating the situation," he asserted, "We're rather trying to avoid finding ourselves facing a battle every few years."

Abo Marzouk was speaking shortly after a meeting in Paris between a number of European top diplomats and their U.S., Turkish and Qatari counterparts to discuss a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip, which has reeled under Israeli attacks since July that left nearly 1000 Palestinians dead.

The meeting came as Palestinian factions and Israel observed a 12-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Participants in the Paris meeting called for renewing the humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Palestinian factions and Israel.

"[Paris meeting attendees] are trying to come up with new ideas to resolve the crisis after both parties to the conflict rejected previous agreements," Abo Marzouk said.

"But the resistance will not accept any truce unless it accommodates its conditions," he asserted.

Hamas says it would not accept any ceasefire initiative with Israel in the Gaza Strip that does not end a years-long blockade on the Palestinian enclave.

A Cairo-proposed ceasefire deal two weeks ago, initially accepted by Israel, was rejected by Gaza-based resistance factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which said they had never been consulted about the terms of the plan.

The Egyptian initiative called on Israel to cease all hostilities in the Gaza Strip, halt all ground operations and refrain from targeting civilians. It also called on Palestinian factions to cease hostilities against Israel, halt rocket fire and cross-border attacks and stop targeting civilians.

The overture further called for reopening Gaza's closed border crossings and facilitating the movement of persons and goods in and out of the embattled coastal strip "once the security situation becomes stable on the ground.

By Hazem Badr

www.aa.com.tr/en