GAZA CITY
Palestinian resistance faction Hamas has accused Israel of rejecting proposals for a humanitarian truce during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
"[Israeli] occupation still rejects any humanitarian truce during Eid," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a press release on Monday.
Hamas and other Palestinian factions said Sunday that they were ready for observing a 24-hour humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip during Eid al-Fitr, which started on Monday, at the request of the United Nations.
Israel has not yet responded to the proposal.
An Israeli military source, however, said that Israel will observe calm, but will respond to any source of fire in the Gaza Strip.
On Saturday, Palestinian factions and Israel observed a 12-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to help civilians to stock up on food and to evacuate the victims of a deadly Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip - which has been reeling under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2006 - from air, ground and sea since July 7, leaving 1035 dead and 6233 injured and destroying hundreds of homes.
Israel claims that the military offensive aims at undermining the ability of Gaza's resistance movements to launch rocket attacks.
By Mustafa Haboosh
englishnews@aa.com.tr
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