The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday played down Israel's rejection of the movement's ceasefire vision which was sent by Egyptian mediators to the Israeli government.
Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader who took part in the talks with the Egyptian mediators, said in Gaza that his movement "doesn't take the (Israeli) official response from the media and it is unconcerned with what is said because we don't hold a direct dialogue with Israel."
On Friday, Israel dismissed the proposal by Hamas for a conditional six-month truce in the Gaza Strip, calling it a ruse aimed at allowing the Palestinian Islamist group to recover from recent fighting.
"What we take is that comes from the Egyptian side because it mediates between us and the occupation," Zahar told reporters after he returned to Gaza from Egypt, adding that his movement "expects to get an answer after less than one week."
Hamas agreed to stick to a truce in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip,backing down from an earlier condition that calmness should be applied simultaneously in the West Bank.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip last June, making more tightened of an Israeli siege on the coastal territory.
Zahar vowed that his movement will continue efforts to lift the Israeli sanctions on the Gaza Strip.
"If the siege is lifted through the lull, it will be OK, but if not, our choices will be open and the confrontation against the occupation will continue."
Source: Xinhua
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