By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday said it is not the right time now for a ceasefire with Hamas, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel is “in a confrontation” with the Palestinian militant movement, and not in a situation to talk about calm, Barak was quoted as saying during a tour to the security barrier.
He, meanwhile, reiterated that the Gaza-ruling group was to blame for the deaths of a Palestinian mother and her four children in an IDF strike in northern Gaza Strip on Monday morning.
Barak’s remarks came when a dozen of rockets and mortar shells from the coastal strip slammed into southern Israel, which, along with the civilian deaths, cast more shadow on Egypt’s mediation efforts to forge a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.
Israeli officials have said the Jewish state would consider the truce deal if Hamas could also restrain Islamic Jihad and other smaller militant groups from attacking Israel.