Hamas on Friday ruled out an immediate suspension of anti-Israeli attacks but agreed to discuss the issue with new prime minister Ahmed Qorei, the movement's spiritual leader and founder said.
"Under the present circumstances, we have no room for a truce. We declared a truce in the past but it failed because the enemy does not want peace and does not want the Palestinian people to live in security," Sheikh Ahmad Yassin told supporters in the Gaza Strip.
Nevertheless, Yassin agreed to hold talks on the issue with Qorei, who announced Wednesday that reaching a ceasefire would be the priority of his government.
"We are prepared to hear to everything he has to tell us, after which we will give him our answer," he told some 3,000 Hamas supporters who gathered after Friday prayers.
"If Israel is serious, why isn't it stopping its settlement policy and the construction of the wall, lifting the roadblocks and releasing prisoners?" the Hamas leader asked.
"We do not want just words and useless negotiations," he added. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
