Hamas Accepts Cease-Fire With Israel
The military wing of Hamas, the Islamic group that governs Gaza, announced late Wednesday that it was committed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire to end three days of fighting with Israel.
The Hamas wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on its Web site that it and the other militant groups in Gaza were responding to “Egyptian efforts to try and stop the aggression against our people.”
Hamas had joined in the latest round of fighting after a break of more than a year during which the group largely adhered to an informal cease-fire, and the new violence had raised fears of a broader conflict with Israel. But the confrontation remained relatively contained, with the Gaza groups firing mostly short-range rockets that did not reach southern Israel’s major cities.
The Qassam Brigades said that it had kept the “confrontation in this round with the Zionist enemy at the minimal level of fire,” and that it was meant as “a message” to the Israeli leaders.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, but in past rounds, Israeli officials have said they would judge the militant groups by their deeds and that Israel would respond to quiet with quiet.