Hamas: Factions agree to stopping homemade shells fire

Sunday November 23, 2008 12:42 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Gaza-based Palestinian factions agreed yesterday night to stop firing homemade shells from Gaza into Israeli areas after Israel requested Egyptian mediators to stop such attacks in return for reopening Gaza's crossings, Hamas sources revealed.

Hamas's spokesman, Ayman Taha

Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Ayman Taha, told media outlets that the chief of Egyptian intelligence, Omar Suleiman, contacted Hamas' leadership on Friday night, conveying the Israeli request.

"Representatives of various factions met last night in Gaza and agreed to stop firing homemade shells in return for reopening the Gaza Strip's crossings, which Israel closed three weeks ago," Taha made clear.

Meanwhile, Israel kept the crossings closed on Sunday under the pretext of firing two homemade shells into nearby Israeli areas.

For the third week now, Israel has imposed strict closure of the borders surrounding Gaza's 1.5 million residents, preventing medicines, food items, and fuel from entering.

In June of this year, Palestinian factions agreed to an Egyptian-mediated truce deal for a period of six months. Earlier in November, Israel attacked Gaza, and resistance factions responded by firing homemade shells into southern Israel.

gaza strip | truce | news report rami at imemc dot org