Hamas Ready for a Deal?

Middle East | Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 5:21:58 pm PST

Is Hamas starting to get cold feet for their jihad? Haniyeh: We’ll deal positively with any cease-fire initiative.

As diplomats scrambled across the Middle East trying to put together a Gaza cease-fire, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh indicated Monday night that he was willing to discuss a truce.

In a televised speech from his hideout, the Hamas leader said, “we will deal positively with any initiative which stops the aggression against our people” and leads to Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Nevertheless, he stressed that while efforts continue toward a cease-fire agreement, Hamas would continue to fight.

Haniyeh said most of those killed in the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead had been women and children, but stressed that “despite this, we knew that victory is the lot of the believers and those who perform Allah’s commandments.”

Their idea of a ceasefire, as we’ve seen repeatedly, is a pause to rearm, recuperate, and retrain.