Al Masry: No permanent truce with Israel; truce and Shalit are not interrelated?

Monday January 26, 2009 04:56 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Moshir Al-Masry, a Hamas member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, stated on Sunday that Hamas rejects any permanent truce offer with Israel, and that the movement is offering a one-year truce that would be evaluated and renewed every year depending on the situation.

Al-Masry- added that resistance is a legitimate right as long as the land is occupied, and added that the issue here is about land, history and holy sites.

He also said that Hamas rejects any association of the truce with the issue of captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.

“Hamas is offering a one-year truce, this truce is to be evaluated when it ends”, Al-Masry stated, “this truce is based on lifting the siege on Gaza, opening the crossings, and we will not accept a truce that negates our right to resist the occupation and defend our land”.

Al-Masry further said that Hamas proposed deploying European or Turkish troops to monitor the border terminals in Gaza, although the movement rejects the deployment of foreign troops.

The truce is one issue, Gilad Shalit, captured by the resistance, is a separate issue; Hamas will not accept any attempt to connect the two issues”, Al-Masry said.  “Shalit does not have anything to do with the truce, or border terminals. His case is related to the issue of Palestinian detainees imprisoned by Israel."

The Hamas leader said the Fatah movement, headed by the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), do not have anything to do with the truce talks held with Egyptian officials in Cairo.

“Fatah and the Palestinian Authority do not believe in resistance, they fought against resistance and against homemade shells”, Al-Masry stated.  “They have no relation with resistance, they always called for permanent truce; they mocked the resistance and cannot make a decision on truce”.

Al-Masri: Hamas rejects any permanent truce with Israel, suggests one-year calm

[ 25/01/2009 - 05:33 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

MP Mushir Al-Masri, a senior Hamas leader, stated that his Movement rejects any permanent truce with Israel and instead suggests a one-year calm to be evaluated at the end of each year, highlighting that the truce issue is totally separate from the file of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

MP Masri told the Quds Press that a permanent truce collides with the people's right to resistance as long as their land is occupied, noting that the calm must be temporary and lead to the opening of crossings especially the Rafah border crossing. 

The lawmaker said that Hamas tabled the issue of international supervision of the crossings despite its rejection of the presence of any international troops in Gaza, noting that these supervisory troops must be European and Turkish in order to ensure that the crossing would not be at the mercy of Israel or any particular party.

Regarding the Shalit file, the MP explained that this file is related to the prisoner swap deal and has nothing to do in any way with the truce issue.

Masri denied any involvement of the Fatah faction in the truce file, confirming that the only parties concerned with this file are the Palestinian resistance factions because Fatah and the PA do not believe in the resistance and work against it.

The father of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit severely criticized the Israeli government for not doing enough for the release of his 22-year-old son.

The father told the official Hebrew radio that outgoing Israeli premier Ehud Olmert did not have determination to get his son released.

In another context, the Wa'ed society for detainees and ex-detainees strongly denounced the Israeli decision to transfer a number of Palestinian prisoners to administrative detention after the expiry of their imprisonment terms and to consider them unlawful combatants.

Fathi Hammad, the head of the society, noted that the Israeli illegal decision to classify Palestinian prisoners as unlawful combatants is not new, but it is an old decision aimed to detain prisoners for unlimited periods without any trial.

Hammad said that this repressive policy against prisoners violates all international norms and conventions, holding the international community responsible for its silence towards such arbitrary practices.

Hamas offers one-year truce with Israel

Sunday January 25, 2009 19:34 by Rami Almeghari - 1 of International Middle East Media Center Editorial Group

The ruling Hamas party in Gaza offered on Sunday a one-year-long truce, or Tahdiya, with Israel, as talks over a ceasefire, and reopening Gaza crossings are underway between Hamas officials and Egyptian mediators in Cairo.

A Hamas official, speaking in a condition of anonymity, told Maan News Agency that his party's delegation to Cairo will focus talks on reopening commercial crossings, a truce with Israel and other outstanding issues such as the national unity talks with the Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The official said that the party agrees that the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority, the UNRWA and other international organizations, are welcomed to start a reconstruction process in Gaza in the wake of a brutal, three-week long Israeli attack on the coastal region.

"Some Arab and European countries do not want to deliver funds to Hamas for the reconstruction process, and they prefer to transfer them to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, to the UNRWA, or to any other foreign firms", he added. 

He maintained that his party does not object to giving aid as long as the whole process will be completed in a high level of transparency, confirming that Gaza will be turned into 'a big workshop' in which all parties concerned will be involved.

Earlier, Hamas' delegate to Cairo, Ayman Taha, told Reuters News Agency that Hamas' officials heard from the Egyptian intelligence chief about the latest Israeli truce proposal. Israel, according to media outlets, wants a truce for one and a half years, but it has denied it would reopen border crossings, for fears that this would enhance Hamas' influence in the Gaza Strip.

Israel attacked the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave on December 27th, 2008, one week after a six-month Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel came to an end. Despite Israel and Hamas trading blame for the cessation of the ceasefire, the record shows that Israel officially broke the truce on Novemeber 4th, when they killed six Palestinians in a raid in the South of Gaza.