By Xinhua,
Gaza : An Israeli request for stopping Hamas’ arms smuggling and weapons manufacturing was the reason behind blocking Egyptian efforts to broker a ceasefire into the Gaza Strip, a Hamas official said on Monday.
Voicing the Hamas accusation, Jamal Abu Hashem, who participated in ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators, also denounced “the government of the occupation (Israel)” for demanding a stopping of rocket attacks, suicide bombings and all forms of resistance”.
Abu Hashem attributed the delaying in reaching a ceasefire with Israel to “the Israeli occupation which tries to get as much achievements as possible without giving the Palestinians anything in return.”
He said that Israel did not clearly pledge to lift the blockade it imposed on the Gaza Strip when Hamas seized the territory last June.
As Egypt failed to broker the ceasefire, it started a new round of mediation efforts as Major General Amos Gilad, an aide to Israeli defense minister, arrived in Cairo with explanation on questions raised by Hamas.
The questions focused on reopening crossing points into the Gaza Strip as Israel proposed a period of calmness to evaluate the things before opening the passages, according to Abu Hashem.
“Hamas has asked how long will this testing period take and what crossings will be open,” he said.
Israel insists on retrieving its soldier Gilad Shalit, who is held hostage in Gaza, under the ceasefire deal while Hamas demands Shalit’s issue is separated and should be handled in a way securing the release of some Palestinian prisoners.