Hamas holding fire, open to new truce

Gaza/Occupied Jerusalem: Palestinian armed groups in Gaza are observing a 24-hour halt to rocket fire against Israel at the request of Egyptian mediators, a senior official of the ruling Hamas group said on Monday.

Ayman Taha said the brief ceasefire went into effect on Sunday evening. He said Hamas might consider a longer truce if Israel were to lift an embargo on the impoverished territory, beginning with permission to import an aid shipment from Egypt.

"Hamas and other factions agreed in order to give a chance to the Egyptian mediation and to show that the problem was always on the Israeli side," Taha told Reuters.

"If a new [truce] offer were made, which met our demands, then we would be willing to study it."

But an Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman said Taha's statements were "not true at all". Israel voiced scepticism.

Fresh Israeli signals

"A ceasefire cannot be unilateral and Hamas, through its actions, has torpedoed the calm in the south," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Word of the 24-hour halt coincided with fresh signals from Israel that it might be ready to consider a new truce with the Islamists, despite calls both within and outside the government over the weekend to end Hamas rule in Gaza with a big offensive.