Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday ruled out Israeli
negotiations with Hamas, and dismissed as "pathetic and misleading" an
announcement by the Islamist group that it was prepared to discuss a
ceasefire with the Jewish state.
The ceasefire call by Hamas leader Ismail Haniya was nothing more
than "an attempt to divert international attention away from the crimes
of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, as expressed in the organized
launchings from the Gaza Strip of rockets and mortars on innocent
Israeli citizens," Peres said in a statement.
"If Hamas and Islamic Jihad stop firing rockets at our women and
children, Israel will immediately hold its fire, so there is no need
for negotiations," said the president, whose duties are mainly
ceremonial, but who, as foreign minister was instrumental in forging
the 1994 Israeli-Palestinian Oslo peace accords.
Although the Islamic Jihad had claimed responsibility for the
majority of the rockets and mortars launched at Israel from the Gaza
Strip, Israeli officials say that Hamas, which controls the salient,
could easily put a stop to the firings if it wanted to.
Peres' statement Wednesday came shortly after Transport Minister
Shaul Mofaz said in a radio interview that he would not rule out
mediated talks with Hamas.
"Mediation is something we can consider, but one thing has to be
clear. So long as the shooting does not stop, we should continue our
policies (in the Strip) and not stop even for one hour," Mofaz, a
former defence minister and military chief of staff, told Israel Army
Radio.
The ceasefire proposal by Haniya, and the Israeli reaction, comes
after Israel killed 11 militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
mostly from the Islamic Jihad, on Monday night and Tuesday.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday night Israel would continue
targeting those responsible for launching the makeshift rockets and
mortars at towns and villages adjacent to the Gaza Strip.
"I think that in the past two days, more people understand that a
war is underway there. This war will not cease," he told legislators
from his Kadima party.
Olmert and other Israeli leaders are under continuing and growing
pressure to put an end to the rockets and mortars, over 2000 of which
have been launched this year.
