25/01/2009 | Al Manar A Hamas team met Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on Sunday in a bid to clinch a lasting truce in war-battered Gaza, after an Israeli negotiator held similar talks in Cairo.
Egypt's state MENA news agency said Suleiman and the Hamas officials discussed "Egyptian efforts to consolidate the ceasefire, reach a (permanent) truce, reopen Gaza crossings and resume Palestinian national dialogue."
Hamas and Egyptian officials were not immediately available to comment on the behind closed doors talks, attended by members of the group's powerful Syria-based politburo and a delegation from the Gaza Strip.
But a Hamas spokesman in Damascus reiterated that the Resistance group was willing to observe a "one-year truce" with Israel "on condition" that the blockade of Gaza is lifted.
The Hamas delegation includes Imad al-Alami and Mohammed Nasser, members of the Damascus-based politburo, as well as Gaza representatives Ayman Taha, Salah Bardawil and Jamal Abu Hashem, MENA said.
MENA earlier quoted an Egyptian official saying that Cairo hopes to clinch a "lasting ceasefire agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians" and "to succeed in narrowing the differences between the two sides."
Suleiman, Egypt's point man for Palestinian-Israeli affairs, met separately on several occasions with Hamas and Israeli officials during the 22-day assault as he sought acceptance of an Egyptian plan to end the onslaught. On Thursday he met Israeli negotiator Amos Gilad.
As the Cairo talks got under way the Hamas representative in Lebanon vowed that the group will continue to arm its militants. "Warplanes, aircraft carriers and satellite technology will not be able to monitor the entry of weapons through Gaza's tunnels," Ossama Hamdan told a rally in Beirut. "Things might get difficult, but we will do whatever it takes to continue our resistance against Israel."
"Israel considers that Egypt is in a position to confront the matter of arms smuggling and to put an end to it," Gilad said on Saturday. "The Egyptians understand that Hamas is a threat not only to Israel but to them as well. Hamas is working in concert with (Egypt's opposition) the Muslim Brotherhood and with Iran," he noted.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is to travel to Washington on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of a bilateral agreement signed on January 16 to halt arms smuggling into Gaza.
The European Union is also looking at ways to stem the flow of arms. The issue is due to be discussed on Sunday in Brussels by EU foreign ministers and Arab counterparts including Egypt.
France, meanwhile, has sent a frigate carrying a helicopter to the region to conduct "surveillance in international waters off Gaza, in full cooperation with Egypt and Israel," President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said on Friday.
Egypt is also seeking to end a protracted feud between Hamas and the Fatah faction of secular Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. According to MENA, several Palestinian faction leaders are due in Cairo this week, including veteran leader Nayef Hawatmeh of the Damascus-based Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, for reconciliation talks.
Egypt's state MENA news agency said Suleiman and the Hamas officials discussed "Egyptian efforts to consolidate the ceasefire, reach a (permanent) truce, reopen Gaza crossings and resume Palestinian national dialogue."
Hamas and Egyptian officials were not immediately available to comment on the behind closed doors talks, attended by members of the group's powerful Syria-based politburo and a delegation from the Gaza Strip.
But a Hamas spokesman in Damascus reiterated that the Resistance group was willing to observe a "one-year truce" with Israel "on condition" that the blockade of Gaza is lifted.
The Hamas delegation includes Imad al-Alami and Mohammed Nasser, members of the Damascus-based politburo, as well as Gaza representatives Ayman Taha, Salah Bardawil and Jamal Abu Hashem, MENA said.
MENA earlier quoted an Egyptian official saying that Cairo hopes to clinch a "lasting ceasefire agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians" and "to succeed in narrowing the differences between the two sides."
Suleiman, Egypt's point man for Palestinian-Israeli affairs, met separately on several occasions with Hamas and Israeli officials during the 22-day assault as he sought acceptance of an Egyptian plan to end the onslaught. On Thursday he met Israeli negotiator Amos Gilad.
As the Cairo talks got under way the Hamas representative in Lebanon vowed that the group will continue to arm its militants. "Warplanes, aircraft carriers and satellite technology will not be able to monitor the entry of weapons through Gaza's tunnels," Ossama Hamdan told a rally in Beirut. "Things might get difficult, but we will do whatever it takes to continue our resistance against Israel."
"Israel considers that Egypt is in a position to confront the matter of arms smuggling and to put an end to it," Gilad said on Saturday. "The Egyptians understand that Hamas is a threat not only to Israel but to them as well. Hamas is working in concert with (Egypt's opposition) the Muslim Brotherhood and with Iran," he noted.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is to travel to Washington on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of a bilateral agreement signed on January 16 to halt arms smuggling into Gaza.
The European Union is also looking at ways to stem the flow of arms. The issue is due to be discussed on Sunday in Brussels by EU foreign ministers and Arab counterparts including Egypt.
France, meanwhile, has sent a frigate carrying a helicopter to the region to conduct "surveillance in international waters off Gaza, in full cooperation with Egypt and Israel," President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said on Friday.
Egypt is also seeking to end a protracted feud between Hamas and the Fatah faction of secular Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. According to MENA, several Palestinian faction leaders are due in Cairo this week, including veteran leader Nayef Hawatmeh of the Damascus-based Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, for reconciliation talks.
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