Hamas rejects long term truce

As Egyptian officials promote long-term ceasefire, Hamas refuses to surrender arms smuggling

Original article
by Ali Waked
Published: 01.25.09, 18:40 / Israel News

As a Hamas delegation discussed a materializing ceasefire Sunday with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, a spokesman for the organization in Gaza reiterated its stark rejection of a long-term truce with Israel.

The spokesman, Ismail Radwan, said a long-term agreement "will kill the resistance, which is the Palestinian people's legitimate right as long as the occupation continues to exist."

Radwan spoke after Egyptian officials, including Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, announced Cairo was preparing to proceed to the next step in truce talks between Hamas and Israel, attempting to render it a long term agreement.

Radwan's response was a restatement of a speech by Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, who said the Palestinian organizations were justified in smuggling arms into Gaza.

"No one has the right to prevent the Palestinians from equipping themselves with weapons as long as the occupation continues," he said.

Hamdan added that the organizations had already launched their rearmament immediately upon the declaration of a short-term ceasefire, and said Palestinians in the West Bank should do the same.

He said Hamas had smuggled arms into the Strip during the IDF's operation, and that the organization would not "surrender to any dictates".

"From the first day of the ceasefire we began to return what we'd lost and to improve what we have in our hands," Hamdan said. "No ships, planes, or technology and satellite imagery will prevent the weapons smuggling."

He said the smuggling required "a lot of sacrifice and martyrs and people lost," but that weapons were arriving and would "continue to arrive".