Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya. Photo: screenshot
Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said on Thursday that reaching an agreement with Israel that would secure a long-term cease-fire remains possible, after both sides agreed to give Egyptian-brokered talks more time to try to end the Gaza war.
"There is still a real opportunity to reach a deal, under one condition, that the Zionist forces stop playing with terminologies and hiding behind them in a ruse that renders our demands void," al-Hayya told reporters upon his return from negotiations in Cairo.
A second extension of the cease-fire, this time for five days rather than three, has raised hopes that a longer-term resolution to the conflict can be found, although the way ahead remains fraught with difficulty.
A halt in more than a month of fighting had been set to expire at midnight between Wednesday and Thursday, however intermittent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip targeted southern Israel late Wednesday and was followed by retaliatory Israeli air strike on terror targets in the enclave early Thursday .
At the last minute, the Palestinians announced in Cairo that the truce was extended by another five days for the sides to work out a long-term cease-fire, mediated by Egypt.
Bridging the gaps between Israel and the Palestinians in order to secure a permanent cease-fire has proven difficult, however.
"We are not interested in a confrontation, but if one is imposed on us, we are able and we say this with ease and humility, we will renew confrontations with the enemy more violently than before," al-Hayya said.
Hamas and its allies want an end to the Israeli and Egyptian blockade on Gaza. But Israel and Egypt harbor deep security concerns about Hamas, the dominant Islamist group in the small, Mediterranean coastal enclave, complicating any deal on easing border restrictions.
"We will not sign an agreement that does not fulfill what our people aspire for," al-Hayya added.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told Al-Aqsa Hamas television on Wednesday that the group would insist on "lifting the Gaza blockade" and reducing movement restrictions on the territory's 1.8 million residents, as a prerequisite to a "permanent calm".
On Thursday, Channel 2 quoted an Israeli diplomatic source as saying Mashaal has been the central force preventing a long-term truce between Israel and the Palestinians to halt more than a month of hostilities on the Gaza front.
According to the Israeli official quoted by Channel 2, a long term deal could have already been reached, but Mashaal "was and remains the source of friction that is torpedoing a deal."
Jpost.com Staff contributed to this report.
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