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Hamas lawmaker denies readiness to renew ceasefire

Other News Materials 24 December 2008 17:54 (UTC +04:00)

A Hamas lawmaker on Wednesday denied reports that Hamas was ready to renew ceasefire with Israel, reported Xinhua.

Mushier al-Masri, a member of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) said the reports "aim at weakening the Palestinian resistance powers that reject the free lull."

Al-Masri was referring to reports by Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper which quoted Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, as saying that his movement was ready to renew the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, which expired last Friday, with the same terms.

"What was reported by the al-Ahram is untrue and not based on what Zahar said," al-Masri added.

The six-month ceasefire was rocked in early November as Israel and Palestinian militants resumed cross-border duel, including the resumption of rocket attacks by the armed Palestinian groups and military operations by the Israeli army.

After the violence flared up, Israel called off improvements it applied on the flow of cargo to Gaza Strip during the ceasefire, leaving the coastal strip suffering from shortage of basic humanitarian needs.

"We emphasize our position that the Israeli occupation was responsible for ending the lull and we reject any lull with conditions similar to the previous one which pushed Gaza Strip into catastrophic situation," al-Masri said.

Meanwhile, the armed wing of Hamas threatened to increase rocket attacks against Israel if the Jewish state continues military raids into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

"We will expand the oil spot and put thousands of Zionists into the fire range if the occupation's stupid acts increase," a statement by Ezz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades said.

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