Here we go again: Truce or No Truce?

[blackheart]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/15/hamas.ceasefire/index.html

Hamas offers to renew cease-fire with Israel

Thursday, June 15, 2006; Posted: 1:58 p.m. EDT (17:58 GMT)

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- The Hamas-led government offered to renew its cease-fire with Israel on Thursday if the Jewish state halts what it calls "aggression" against Palestinians, a spokesman for the Islamic militant group said.

Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad's remarks are an apparent signal that the Palestinian ruling party is willing to try to help end rocket attacks on Israel.

Hamad said that Hamas is ready to discuss a possible truce with other Palestinian factions that would stop the firing of rockets into Israel.

"We are interested in a cease-fire everywhere. We want to end all operations if the Israeli side is interested in doing so," Hamad told Israel radio before later repeating similar comments on CNN.

If Hamas renews the cease-fire and manages to persuade other Palestinian militant groups to halt the rocket fire, it would reduce the spiraling violence that has plagued the region since Israel pulled out of Gaza last summer.

Earlier Thursday, Palestinians fired five Qassam rockets into Israel from Gaza, lightly wounding one person, the Israel Defense Forces said. Two of the rockets landed inside Sderot, an Israeli town in the Negev Desert.
Truce ends after beach deaths

Hamas' military wing called off a 16-month-old cease-fire after blaming Israel for an explosion Friday that killed eight Palestinian civilians on a Gaza beach.

The Israeli military later said an investigation indicated its artillery fire could not have led to the deaths.

Israeli officials suggested the blast may have come from a dud shell left on the beach or an explosive planted by militants, but Palestinians disputed those conclusions.

Since winning control of the Palestinian parliament earlier this year, Hamas has faced intense international pressure to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Western nations have cut off financial aid, leading to a crisis.

Hamas' military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians as well as attacks on the Israeli military. Israel, the United States and European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
Hamas officials receive warning

After the civilian deaths last week on the beach, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered the IDF to use restraint.

But Israel fired two missiles Tuesday at a van it said was carrying Islamic Jihad militants intending to fire Russian-made Katyusha rockets into southern Israel. Three militants were killed, and eight Palestinians also died when a second missile hit as they rushed to the van.

Peretz said Wednesday that Israel had passed a message to senior Palestinian Authority officials that the IDF will take action if the rocket fire does not come to a halt.

"I decided to stick with the policy of attacking people launching rockets while they are trying to act and not to ratchet it up another level, and there were many considerations involved, some of which are considerations that cannot be presented to the public," Peretz told the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

"But we made it clear to the most senior echelon of Hamas that we have no intention of making restraint into a strategy."

More than 100 Palestinian rockets have been fired at Israel since Friday, the Israelis said earlier this week.

Most are crudely made Qassam rockets with a limited range of about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) and no guidance systems. However, militants have obtained Katyusha rockets, which are more sophisticated and have a range of 12.4 (20 kilometers).

I find it rather odd Hamas would willingly step up and offer a truce. Unless it's positioned is threatened, or it's preparing to fight off other Palestinian factions.

 

[Elrohir]

I think Fatah and Hamas are getting ready to go at it. Hamas isn't stupid - evil, perhaps, but not stupid - and they know being hit on two sides is the easiest way to be crushed. With Israel already helping Fatah with shipments of weapons, they need to make a truce with Israel fast, if they're going to escape being ousted by a coup.

This truce, of course, like all the others, would be temporary. Sadly, I don't think it's a great step forward in the desire for peace; just an offer of convenience.

 

[skadistic]

Ant one willing to trust hamas is plain stupid. But any stop in violence no matter how short is always welcome.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

I find it rather odd Hamas would willingly step up and offer a truce. Unless it's positioned is threatened, or it's preparing to fight off other Palestinian factions.

My thoughts exactly. Hamas is trying to weasel its way out of a two-front war so that it could concentrate on just one front --- against Fatah. This would be the perfect opportunity for Israel to up the ante and demand not just a truce, but a treaty where, among other things, Hamas renounces its mission to destroy Israel, and agrees to work within a scheme to establish permanent borders and peaceful diplomatic relations with Israel. Israel could propagandize this by saying that "We want a permanent peace, not just a lull in the fighting."

There's no advantage for Israel to just allow a truce. For one thing, Hamas is untrustworthy. Another is, Israel's not under any real threat.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

This offer of a truce has nothing to do with a 'two front war'. This is a tried and true strategy of the Palestinians which theyve been employing for decades now, long before there was a Palestinian civil war in the offing. By offering a truce, they serve to further isolate Israel diplomatically. Just as Fatah never stopped the attacks against Israel, neither has Hamas, and it never will. Israel understands this, and continues to assert its right to defend itself, so long as the attacks continue, regardless of international condemnation.

 

[Ellipsis Jones]

This might shed some light on the timing:

Hamas stopped firing Qassam rockets at Israel yesterday, after Israel warned that it would attack Hamas leaders. In response to Hamas' restraint, the Israel Defense Forces will not attack Hamas targets as long as it does not renew terror attacks.

Hamas instructed its operatives Monday night to stop the rocket fire, during a meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and top Hamas military wing officials in Gaza.

[...]

Palestinian sources told Haaretz that Haniyeh's meeting with the military wing officials was convened in the wake of a warning by Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin, who told one of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' advisers that Israel would target Hamas leaders if the organization were to continue firing rockets.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz confirmed yesterday that Israel passed the message to senior PA officials that if the rocket fire does not come to a halt, the IDF will take decisive action.

Emphasis added. The CNN article is rather misleading, making it sound like the ceasefire is a spontaneous gesture of goodwill on the part of Hamas.

 

[GenMarshall]

I see as they are just after the money because they are up to their chins in debt.

 

[Alpine Trooper]

I see as they are just after the money because they are up to their chins in debt.

Hmm...

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

This offer of a truce has nothing to do with a 'two front war'. This is a tried and true strategy of the Palestinians which theyve been employing for decades now, long before there was a Palestinian civil war in the offing. By offering a truce, they serve to further isolate Israel diplomatically. Just as Fatah never stopped the attacks against Israel, neither has Hamas, and it never will. Israel understands this, and continues to assert its right to defend itself, so long as the attacks continue, regardless of international condemnation.

Good point. I hadn't remembered that.