Moussa Abu Marzouk
Photo: AP
Hamas: Qassams one of the means to resist Jewish occupation
Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Islamist group’s political bureau, promises truce ‘if Israel halts its reprisals’
“The Qassam attacks from Gaza are one of the means we are using to resist the occupation by the Jewish state,” said Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau.
In an interview published Sunday on a website affiliated with Hamas, Abu Marzouk said the Islamist group would send a delegation to Cairo in the next few days to speak with the Egyptians, but added that there would be no meeting with Fatah representatives to discuss the security situation in the Palestinian Authority.
Abu Marzouk also promised a truce if Israel halted its reprisals, saying “the Palestinian factions then will be ready to stop the rockets on (Israel) and the Zionist military positions.”
However, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised more attacks on Hamas on Sunday after a Palestinian rocket attack killed an Israeli man in southern Israel.
'Talks will focus on restoring calmness'
Deputy Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmed, a top Fatah official, confirmed that the moderate Palestinian group would not meet with the militant Hamas faction while in Cairo.
A little over a week ago Fatah and Hamas reached a truce to stem fierce factional fighting that killed more than 50 Palestinians. Despite the agreement, tensions between the two groups remain high.
Fatah’s talks with the Egyptian government will focus on “restoring calmness in the Palestinian field, avoiding the return of conflict and fighting and supporting unity,” said al-Ahmed in a Cairo press conference after meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
Egypt, a regional heavyweight and top US ally, is a regular mediator in the Palestinian crisis and has been working to reconcile the Palestinian factions, whose infighting has further stalled negotiations for a peace agreement with Israel.
