Hamas accepts Egyptian proposal for Gaza cease-fire

Hamas has accepted the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, the group said Wednesday evening, after talks in Cairo.The Hamas delegation was making it way back to Damascus to brief the group's leaders.Egyptian officials told the Middle East News Agency (MENA) that Hamas had responded positively to the country's efforts to mediate a Gaza cease-fire.Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said he would relay Hamas's response to the Egyptian proposal to Israel. However,Osama Hamdan(picture left), the Hamas representative in Lebanon, said that Hamas's position regarding the Egyptian initiative had not changed.He said that despite reports that Hamas had agreed to the cease-fire initiative, there were still a number of differences between Egypt and the Islamist movement that needed to be addressed.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were meeting in Jerusalem to discuss Israel's response to the initiative.Also on Wednesday, France's foreign minister said his government was ready to talk to Hamas, if the group renounced violence and recognize Israel.France currently only has indirect contacts with Hamas, which the European Union lists as a terrorist group.Speaking Wednesday in parliament, he said: "We don't ignore the reality of Hamas, its electoral success or its weight in Palestinian opinion."He expressed hope that international pressure for a Gaza cease-fire will be "effective in a few days."
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH AND JPOST.COM STAFF
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231950847330&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
As in the days of Noah...