By RIA Novosti,
Cairo : A coalition of 12 small Palestinian factions agreed in principle on Wednesday to accept conditions of a ceasefire with Israel, mediated by Egypt, the MENA news agency reported.
Egypt earlier proposed a ceasefire agreement including a six-month truce between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, an exchange of prisoners, and the opening of Gaza’s border crossings.
After two-day consultations in Cairo, the coalition, which includes factions that have claimed responsibility for rocket and mortar attacks on neighboring Israeli towns, is expected to issue an official statement indicating the acceptance of the proposed truce with the Jewish state.
Radical Islamic movement Hamas, which seized control over Gaza in June 2007, agreed on to Egyptian initiative last Thursday and expressed hope that the truce would eventually extend to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel has so far rejected the ceasefire proposal, seeing it as merely an attempt by the Palestinian militants to play for time.
In 2005, Egypt hosted a similar meeting attended by 13 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The participants agreed then on an informal truce with Israel, which lasted, however, only for a short time.
According to Al-Ahram newspaper, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman will soon travel to Israel to relay the details of the agreement to the Israeli leadership. He will attempt to persuade Tel Aviv to assume a “more flexible and positive stance.”