Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said that reports of a ceasefire with the Palestinian militant movement Hamas were "premature." He was referring to an earlier announcement by Egyptian and Palestinian officials that a six-month truce had been agreed as of Thursday.
The truce aims at halting rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. In return Israel is to ease a one-year blockade of the Strip and stop its raids in the territory. A Hamas official said he was confident all militant groups in Gaza would abide by the agreement, which was brokered by Egypt. Israel has said it is willing to give the truce a chance but has stressed it is also readying its troops for a possible ground offensive aimed at ousting Hamas should the agreement Israel minister says too soon to talk of Gaza truce deal ...
Bush says committed to Middle East peace efforts ... fail.
(Deutsche Welle)
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