Israel might be ready to consider a new truce with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli cabinet minister said today.
A six-month Gaza ceasefire expired on Friday with a surge of cross-border fighting.
Israel said a wider offensive was in the works, and leading candidates to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a February 10th ballot pledged to topple Hamas if elected.
But a member of Mr Olmert's security cabinet questioned the long-term efficacy of any major military sweep of the impoverished coastal strip, and said renewing the truce, originally brokered by Egypt, could be an option.
"The calm is, of course, one alternative, and it is an alternative that can be seriously examined," Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog told Israel Radio. "I, like many of my colleagues, am ready to consider continuing the calm, on terms that are comfortable for Israel."
Asked whether this might be broached with Hamas, Mr Herzog said: "No, I don't think we can open negotiations. Right now we are dealing with an enemy who is not looking for negotiations."
Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip are observing a 24-hour halt to rocket fire against Israel at the request of Egyptian mediators, a senior official of the ruling Islamist Hamas group said today.
He said the brief ceasefire went into effect on Sunday evening and Hamas would consider an initiative for a longer truce.
Israel had previously voiced interest in maintaining the calm, but rhetoric turned belligerent during the weekend after Hamas announced the end of the truce last week.
The head of the Hamas administration in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, said on Sunday that his side did not seek escalation.
During the truce, Hamas had accused Israel of poor faith due to its protracted closure of crossings into Gaza, a lifeline of humanitarian and commercial goods for 1.5 million Palestinians.
Israel blamed security threats for the closures. Many Israelis also voiced dismay at the truce's failure to advance negotiations for the return of a soldier held in Gaza.
Reuters