Hamas expected to agree to truce

PALESTINIAN officials yesterday said they expected a positive response from Hamas on a truce with Israel, perhaps even by late last night, and Egyptian diplomatic sources said an announcement would be made in Cairo.

Hamas officials said they are still studying the proposal.

A truce is crucial for implementing a US-backed peace plan, the “road map” to Palestinian statehood by 2005. In the first stage, the Palestinians must dismantle militant groups, while Israel must gradually withdraw to positions held before the outbreak of fighting 33 months ago. However, lulls in violence and cease-fire efforts have been scuttled repeatedly in the past, both by Hamas attacks and Israel’s targeted killing of militants.

In new violence yesterday, a gunman shot and wounded an Israeli motorist driving near the West Bank city of Jenin, a spokesman for Israel’s medical rescue service said. Palestinian gunmen frequently fire at Israeli drivers on highways linking Jewish settlements.

Israel has said this time that it would accept a truce, but only as a brief precursor to a crackdown on Hamas by Palestinian security forces. “The Palestinians must fight all the terror organisations,” said Israeli defence minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday. “Their dialogue with the terror organisations is their business.”

Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas has said he will not use force against the militants, for fear of sparking a civil war. A Palestinian source involved in the truce talks said a final draft of the cease-fire has been sent to Khaled Mashal, a Hamas leader in Damascus. The draft does not specify the duration of the truce, and this will be left to Egyptian mediators to determine, the source said.

The document states that the armed groups are willing to give Abbas a chance to reach an agreement with the Israelis, according to the source. The truce agreement was drawn up by Marwan Barghouti, a jailed Palestinian uprising leader, in his Israeli prison cell, said the source. Barghouti has been in close touch with Mashal through intermediaries, while Egypt has supervised the negotiations.

Egyptian diplomatic sources said Mashal was heading to Cairo either last night or this morning, and that he would be accompanied by Ramadan Shalah, leader of the smaller Islamic Jihad group.

Several Palestinian Authority officials expressed optimism.

“Hamas told us they would give us an answer on Monday so we expect an answer, and we expect it to be a positive one,” said Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath.

The Palestinian source said Hamas would relay its response to Egypt within 48 hours, and that a formal announcement was expected by Thursday in Cairo. Egypt has been trying for several months to try to persuade the armed groups to halt attacks on Israelis.

A key sticking point has been Israel’s refusal to halt targeted killings of wanted Palestinians. Israel says it reserves the right to go after “ticking bombs,” but uses a broad definition that includes not only assailants about to carry out attacks, but also those who send them.