Last night, Hamas announced it had reached an agreement with its fellow palestinian terrorist groups to refrain from firing rockets at southern Israeli towns to prevent retaliatory attacks.
“We have agreed with the factions that nobody carries out any action involving rockets for now,” Fathi Hammad, Hamas’ interior minister, was quoted as saying by the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
But if Israel sent troops to the Hamas-controlled territory, then the militants would have “an open space to respond,” Hammad
But before anyone gets the wrong idea about Hamas’ intentions:
During the meeting on Saturday, Hammad reportedly denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ claim that Hamas was seeking secret negotiations with Israel.
“There are no secret deals and our position is clear; the land of Palestine is an Islamic endowment” that can’t be put for negotiations, he was quoted as saying.
This announcement came after terrorists fired another Qassam into Israel yesterday morning, and before Israel’s response of bombing two Hamas weapons facilities, as well as an arms smuggling tunnel.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
4:30PM: Former Australian Labor minister Barry Cohen argues that Israel deserves respect in global forums (hat tip: Ian)
7:48AM: Syrian dorktator Bashar Assad may be an ophthalmologist, but he sure doesn’t have an eye for the art of negotiation.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said he would begin peace talks with Israel only after Netanyahu “guarantees the full return of land and rights,” the Syrian News Service reported.
Assad met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris where they spoke about the future of peace talks between Israel and Syria, reported the Syrian News Service.
Sarkozy told Assad that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to start talks with Syria with no preconditions.
Assad said that talks without preconditions were “unacceptable,” and that he expected the full return of land and rights before he would begin any peace talks.
“This is where talks begin from. The result of the talks is peace; if you want peace then the result will be peace,” Assad said..
6:16AM: Quote of the day:
While a civilian would be better suited for the post of defense minister than a military figure, “this doesn’t mean every moron can serve as defense minister”
– Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens
These remarks are seen as a jab at fellow former Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
That would be him on the right.
6:00AM: Iranian cleric Mojtaba Zolnour has issued a warning to Israel.
“If the enemy should want to test its bad luck in Iran, before the dust from its missiles settles in this country, Iran’s ballistic missiles would land in the heart of Tel Aviv,” said , IRNA news agency reported.
