Hamas denies agreeing to 72-hour cease-fire

Fatah official Yasser Abd Rabbo claims announcement was made with consent of all Palestinian factions, however Hamas says cease-fire cannot exist while Israeli forces are inside Gaza.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Abed Rabbo 311 (R) (photo credit: Nasser Nuri/Reuters)
Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Abed Rabbo 311 (R)
(photo credit: Nasser Nuri/Reuters)
PLO official Yasser Abd Rabbo on Tuesday said all Palestinian factions were prepared to announce a unilateral 72-hour cease-fire in fighting between Israeli and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
According to Rabbo, the announcement was made with the consent of Hamas.
Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah, Rabbo said the initiative for a three-day halt in fighting was based on a proposal by the UN's special envoy to the Middle East, Robert Serry.
However, Hamas spokespersons have denied these reports and said they do not agree with this announcement and that a cease-fire cannot exist when Israeli forces are inside Gaza.
Israel did not immediately respond to the remarks.
Earlier on Tuesday, Al-Arabia reported that a delegation comprised of various Palestinian factions reportedly arrived Tuesday in Cairo for talks on an Egyptian cease-fire initiative proposed two weeks ago to quell the fighting between Hamas and Israel.
The delegation - including representatives from the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad - was slated to meet with Egyptian officials to discuss the draft truce, which Hamas and Islamic Jihad previous rejected and Israel accepted.
Among the delegation members were Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmad, Moussa Abu Marzouk of Hamas and Ziyad Nahal from the Islamic Jihad, according to the report.
Israel briefly halted its strikes in Gaza after accepting the Egyptian truce proposal on July 15, but resumed attacks the next day as terrorists in Gaza pounded Israel with fresh salvos of rockets.
Hamas rejected the Egyptian efforts to end fighting, saying any deal must include an end to a blockade of the coastal enclave and a recommitment to a cease-fire reached in Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012.
Egypt has previously said it has no plans to revise the cease-fire proposal, while Hamas has stressed that it has no plans to change their conditions to a truce.