JERUSALEM - Hamas is drafting terms for a temporary ceasefire with Israel while trying to gain support from other Palestinian factions to accept it, Israeli media reported Saturday.
Israel Radio cited senior Hamas officials as saying the militant group is working toward a limited truce with Israel and is in talks with other armed Palestinian groups for their support.
Hamas first floated the idea of a truce in a telephone call to an Israeli TV reporter Tuesday from Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Hamas government in Gaza. The proposal was officially made Thursday though Egyptian mediators. Previous truces have been negotiated through Egyptian mediation, but none have held for long.
Hamas officials were not immediately available to comment on the Israel Radio report. A senior member of Islamic Jihad said there has been no discussion between his group and Hamas about a truce.
"We don't think the priority should be talking about a truce,'' said Islamic Jihad's Nafez Azzam. "Talking about a truce should be directed first to the part that continues the killing and air strikes. Truce is not on the table now in light of the Israeli aggression.''
Islamic Jihad is responsible for most of the rockets that have disrupted life in southern Israel. Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets at communities in southern Israel and the army has struck back hard, killing 20 Gaza militants in air strikes and ground operations in the past week.
At least three high-ranking Israeli officials said this week that they favour a conditional ceasefire with Hamas, if the militant group that controls Gaza halts rocket fire into Israel.
Israeli defence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said Friday, without providing details, that the government was examining the Hamas offer.
However, Israel's official position is that it will not talk to Hamas unless the group renounces all violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and accepts previous peace agreements. On Saturday, a senior defence official also said a truce with Hamas is not viable.
Hamas seized control of Gaza by force in June and has been largely isolated since then. An international boycott has put the Hamas government under tremendous pressure, with the coastal strip closed off from the rest of the world and facing severe shortages of basic goods, a 50 per cent unemployment rate and a halt to almost all imports and exports.
