Palestinian factions have agreed to halt
rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and to renew their commitment to an
Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel in exchange for opening crossing points
into the strip, a Hamas spokesman said on Sunday.
Ayman Taha, the spokesman, said the agreement was reached Sunday morning and
the factions would wait to see when Israel will reopen the commercial crossings
into Gaza, dpa reported.
The meeting was held after Egypt, which sponsors the ceasefire, conveyed an
Israeli message to Hamas that the Jewish state will call off recent
restrictions if the armed Palestinian groups halted rocket attacks against
Israeli border towns.
"We have met the factions in Gaza and briefed them about this
letter," Taha said. "The factions were interested in easing the siege
and committed themselves again to the lull which expires next month and there
were no talks on extending the agreement after that."
The ceasefire was rocked by a series of Israeli army operations in the Gaza
Strip beginning on November 4, followed by aresumption of rocket attacks by the
armed group.
Since then, Israel has been closing crossing points into Gaza and withholding
fuel supplies, forcing the only power station in the Strip to shut down.
The six-month ceasefire deal, took effect on June 19, calls on Israel to open the crossing points into Gaza and stipulates that the armed groups must halt
cross-border attacks.
Last year, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip after routing security forces
loyal to president Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah. Since then, Israel started imposing restrictions on the Hamas-ruled territory.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli media had reported that Israel would keep its borders
to the Gaza Strip closed after new rocket attacks by Palestinian militants late
Saturday.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak made the decision to keep all border
crossings into Gaza closed, following the latest launches of three home-made
Kassam rockets by militants toward two towns in southern Israel. There were no casualties.
An Israeli attack by a ground-fired missile in retaliation wounded two Palestinians
militants who were allegedly trying to fire additional rockets, the Palestinian
news agency Maan reported.
Israel has come under international criticism for keeping the Gaza crossings closed since November 5, allowing only a few shipments of humanitarian goods
to enter the Palestinian enclave.