Hamas backtracks on refusal to renew peace

Hamas militants who had vowed not to renew a de facto truce with Israel backed off today, saying they would extend it if Israel “stops its aggression” and releases Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas also demands that the Palestinian Authority hold parliamentary elections as scheduled in January, and reform its corrupt government, said Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the militants have been clashing for more than a week, with Israel assassinating gunmen and the Palestinians carrying out a suicide bombing and rocketing Israeli areas bordering Gaza.

Yesterday, after an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hamas gunman, the militant group said it would not renew the February ceasefire, which is set to expire on December 31.

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who threw stones at troops patrolling the West Bank town of Jenin today, Palestinian hospital officials said.

A live bullet struck Ahmed Ismail Khatib in the head, officials said.

Soldiers are in the town in pursuit of an Islamic Jihad fugitive, Husam Jarradat, surrounding a house where he has holed up inside.