Militants Say Truce Depends on Israeli Offer

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas tried Tuesday to persuade militant groups to extend their informal cease-fire with Israel, but militants said any truce depended on what Israel had to offer.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have demanded a timetable for an Israeli troop withdrawal from the Palestinian territories and a prisoner release as part of a package including a suspension of attacks.

Abbas told the opening of the meeting of a dozen or so Palestinian groups outside Cairo that the agreement for “calm” with Israel had already produced benefits, but he said the Jewish state must fulfill its side of the deal, reached at a summit Feb. 8 in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt.

At those talks, Abbas promised Israel an end to hostilities. Militants did not formally join in but agreed to see what Abbas could achieve.

Asked about the prospects for extending the calm, senior Hamas leader Mohammed Nazzal said Tuesday, “If we find that the public interest requires that, we will announce that.”

Abu Imad Rifai, a member of the Islamic Jihad delegation, said a truce would depend on what steps Israel was offering.

“If the answers are in accordance with our vision on the release of detainees, withdrawals, [stopping] building the [West Bank] wall, stopping building settlements and stopping assassinations, then it is possible,” he said.