Hamas official: Israel wants Independence Day calm for free

Israel is interested in calm in the region ahead of its 60th Independence Day, but it wants to achieve it without giving anything in exchange and not in the framework of a truce deal, Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip said Tuesday. Radwan called on Palestinian factions to respond to the escalation in Gaza "in any way they see fit" and stressed that Hamas was unconcerned by Defense Minister Ehuid Barak's threat to continue operations against the movement.