Hamas: if Israel violates any of the truce terms, the movement will not recognize the deal

Monday June 23, 2008 20:10

by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Hamas movement warned that if Israel implements the Israeli high court decision of not opening the border crossing with Gaza until the abducted Israeli soldier in the Strip is released; the Hamas movement will not recognize the truce deal anymore.

Fouzi Barhum, Hamas Spokesperson in Gaza â€“ Photo by Palestine info 2008

On Sunday the Israeli High Court of Justice ordered the Israeli government to keep border crossings to the Gaza Strip closed until noon today. The court decision was in response to a petition filed by the family of captured Israel Soldier in Gaza Gilad Shalit, his family demanded clarification on the terms of the Gaza cease-fire deal.

The petition that was filed against the Israeli state, Prime Minister Ehod Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, demands that the Israeli government justifies why the truce between Israel and Hamas was not conditioned upon Gilad's release or his transfer to Egypt.

Shalit was captured by Palestinian resistance groups in June 2006, during a resistance attack on an Israeli military site located in the Gaza Strip.

Last week The Egyptian-mediated truce between Hamas that controls Gaza since June 2007 and Israel took effect. The ceasefire deal stipulates that Hamas, will halt the fire of homemade shells into Israeli territory, in exchange for Israel lifting the 12 month-blockade and ceasing all military attacks against the Gaza Strip. In addition the truce deal includes that Israel and Hamas will start to conduct indirect talks over a prisoners swap deal. Both Hamas and Israel have announced that they agree on the conditions.

Fouzi Barhum spokesperson of the Hamas movement in Gaza said on Monday that if Israel does not open the crossing points into Gaza the movement will consider this as a violation of the ceasefire deal and that Hamas will not be committed anymore to the deal.

The Hamas official added that so far Israel had committed to the truce deal so as the Palestinian factions, but he also said" the commitment to the truce should be from both sides", he was referring to if the Israeli government decides to adhere to the court decision on Sunday.