Region | Palestinian Territories
Senior Israeli official likens Hamas to 'cancer' and an obstacle to peace
Israel's point man in indirect, Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas on Wednesday said the Islamic movement is more powerful than the Western-backed Palestinian government and "is like a cancer."
- AP
- Published: 23:39 September 10, 2008
Occupied Jerusalem: Israel's point man in indirect, Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas on Wednesday said the Islamic movement is more powerful than the Western-backed Palestinian government and "is like a cancer."
Senior Defence Ministry official Amos Gilad said talks with Hamas designed to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier, Sgt Gilad Schalit, have gone better since a truce went into effect in June. But he added that a deal is "not close."
"Since the truce we are discussing more seriously, but I am impressed only by results," he said.
Warning
Gilad's comments came as a senior Hamas official warned that any Israeli military option in Gaza could lead to more kidnappings of Israeli soldiers.
Gilad, making a rare appearance before foreign diplomats and journalists in occupied Jerusalem, said current peace talks between Israel and the moderate Palestinian forces in charge of the West Bank are not likely to bear fruit until those forces retake Gaza from Hamas.
"It's very difficult to sign an agreement with half your body," he said.
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