Risheq’s statement was the first sign since Sunday night’s clash between an elite IDF unit and Hamas near Khan Yunis that the movement was interested in ending the current cycle of violence.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHUpdated: NOVEMBER 13, 2018 17:34Israel and Hamas militants trade heavy fire across border, November 13, 2018 (Reuters)
Hamas said on Tuesday that it was holding urgent meetings with several Arab, Islamic and Western countries, as well as various international parties, to “end the Zionist aggression” against the Gaza Strip.Senior Hamas official Ezzat al-Risheq also called on the international community to condemn the Israeli attacks, which came in response to the launching of hundreds of rockets and projectiles from the Gaza Strip toward Israel in the past 48 hours.Risheq’s statement was the first sign since Sunday night’s clash between an elite IDF unit and Hamas near Khan Yunis that the movement was interested in ending the current cycle of violence.Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that if Israel halts its attacks, they too would respond in kind.Ismail Radwan, a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, said that the Palestinian “resistance groups will halt all their activities once Israel stops its aggression.”Other Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday also indicated readiness to halt their attacks on Israel. “We have informed the Egyptians that we will cease fire only if Israel stops its attacks on the Gaza Strip,” said a representative of one of the groups. “The ball is now in the Israeli court.”The official denied earlier reports that a cease-fire had been reached in the Gaza Strip. “We haven’t been notified of any understandings concerning a cease-fire,” he said. “We know that the Egyptians and the UN are trying to arrange a cease-fire, but we still haven’t received any word that Israel will stop its attacks. We’re only responding to the Israeli aggression. Once the aggression stops, there will be calm.”