JERUSALEM (JTA) — At least five Kassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip struck the western Negev following a one-day cease-fire.
Even as the rockets fell Tuesday, a senior Hamas official, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, told the Egyptian daily al-Ahram that Hamas would renew its truce with Israel if Israel agrees to stop military operations in the coastal strip and open its border crossings.
Also on Tuesday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a meeting in Cairo that he would not support an Israeli invasion of Hamas-led Gaza or continued bombing of the area by Israeli warplanes.
Meanwhile, senior Israeli defense officials told the Jerusalem Post Monday that Israel will launch an operation against Hamas in Gaza even if there is a lull in rocket attacks.
An Islamic Jihad official was quoted on Israel Radio as saying his terrorist organization had agreed to Monday’s cease-fire only to allow an Egyptian convoy of humanitarian aid into Gaza and would step up its attacks after the aid was delivered.
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