OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Agencies)
Israeli troops killed a Hamas gunman during a clash near the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis on Friday, as two senior cabinet ministers urged the Jewish state to examine any serious ceasefire proposal from the Islamist group.
"If a serious offer for a truce from Hamas reached us, I think we should examine it seriously," Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters.
One of Israel's deputy prime ministers and a member of the main coalition party Kadima, Mofaz ruled out direct political negotiations with the Islamist movement unless it recognizes Israel.
"If Hamas comes to us with a serious proposal for a long-term truce, in my opinion Israel should not reject it. For that, it would not be vital for Hamas to recognize Israel first," said Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer.
"What is essential is that it stops rocket fire and all other attacks against Israel from Gaza, and that it agrees to stop arms smuggling on the Egypt border," Ben Eliezer told public radio.
"Making recognition of Israel a precursor to negotiations would be the best way of torpedoing it from the beginning," said the former defense minister.
Ben Eliezer linked dialogue with Hamas to the release of an
Israeli soldier captured in June 2006 by Palestinian fighters on the Gaza border.
In his opinion, Hamas was "showing signs of weariness" because of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and economic sanctions.
But the office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert denied that Israel was considering a ceasefire proposal from Hamas, blacklisted as a terrorist group.
"Israel talks to the Palestinian Authority (headed by President Mahmud Abbas) and not with extremists," a government official said.
"We will not let terrorist organizations continue to strike or regroup. We will continue to employ all necessary means to stop them from attacking our towns," the official added.
Israeli air strikes and ground operations in the Gaza Strip have killed 20 Palestinian fighters from different armed groups since Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Hamas and medical workers said Friday that Israeli troops killed a Hamas gunman near Khan Younis. An Israeli army spokesman said he was checking the report.
On Thursday, Israeli forces killed seven Palestinian militants during a brief incursion into the coastal territory.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June when it routed Abbas's forces. |
