http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1070646.html
Last update - 16:02 12/03/2009
Hamas condemns Gaza rocket strikes on Israel
By The Associated Press
Tags: Israel News, IDF, Hamas, Gaza
Gaza's Hamas rulers issued rare criticism Thursday of Palestinian rocket
attacks on Israel from the strip, saying now is the wrong time for such
attacks.
The Islamic militant group has fired thousands of rockets at southern
Israel in recent years. But Hamas said Thursday that it was not behind recent
attacks and that it was investigating who was responsible.
It apparently fears that new rocket fire could disrupt the reconciliation
talks currently underway in Cairo.
A Hamas spokesman says Palestinian factions trying to hammer out a
power-sharing agreement are struggling to reconcile their differences toward
peace talks with Israel.
Fawzi Barhoum says the disagreement is one of the key hurdles holding up
the formation of a new unity government between the militant Hamas group and
the more moderate Fatah faction.
Meanwhile, Egypt, which is mediating between rival Palestinian factions
in the talks that began this week in Cairo, and Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas' Fatah have repeatedly said that any new Palestinian government should
accept previous peace agreements with Israel and Arabs' peace overtures to
Israel.
That would include recognizing Israel's right to exist - which Hamas
rejects.
"We were not part of these agreements, and therefore, no one should
expect us to endorse them," Barhoum told The Associated Press in Cairo.
Egypt has set a Saturday deadline for the factions to produce an
agreement and hopes to host a signing ceremony by the end of March.
Several negotiators at the talks said Egypt's powerful intelligence chief
Omar Suleiman will meet the delegates Thursday to try to reconcile their
differences. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to talk to the media.
They also said that Hamas and Fatah still disagree on other issues, such
as setting a date for new presidential and legislative elections for all
Palestinians.
"Time is not a sword hanging over our necks. What is important is what we
achieve," Barhoum said.
The Palestinian divide was made worse after Hamas violent takeover of
Gaza in 2007 that split Palestinian territory between the West Bank, controlled
by the internationally backed Fatah, and the Gaza Strip, ruled by the widely
shunned Hamas.
Overcoming the distrust between them is key to moving ahead with
reconstruction in Gaza after Israel's recent offensive there. Previous unity
accords have collapsed in mistrust and infighting, but this time both sides
appear to have a strong incentive to reach an accord.
Hamas is under pressure to mend fences with Fatah to help end the
devastating blockade of Gaza imposed by Egypt and Israel and obtain foreign
funding to rebuild Gaza.
Fatah and Abbas, whose popularity took a beating due to his perceived
lack of decisiveness during the Gaza war, need to find a way to blunt the
challenges from Hamas.
The delegates in Cairo are working in five committees, deliberating
specific issues - from forming a unity government, holding new elections,
reforming the security services, carrying out confidence-building measures and
finding a role for Hamas in the Palestine Liberation Organization. Other
Palestinian factions are also present.
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