Egypts says Hamas to respond to truce proposals Saturday

Talks between Egyptian intelligence officials and a Hamas delegation ended on Wednesday without a deal. Hamas said Israeli proposals for an agreement, carried through Egypt, were vague.Â

 

Reuters quoted an unidentified Egyptian official as telling MENA the Hamas delegation "will come back to Cairo on Saturday to inform the Egyptian officials of the final response".

 

Hamas and Israel have held separate talks with Egyptian mediators on terms for a long-term truce after three weeks of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and Hamas rocket barrages on southern Israel.

 

Both sides declared separate ceasefires on Jan. 18 but acts of violence have continued.

 

Hamas wants Israel and Egypt to reopen all Gaza's border crossings so that people and goods can move freely. Gaza has been under blockade for most of the time since Hamas took power there in June 2007.

 

"We have received through the brothers in Egypt an Israeli offer. This offer has a lot of vagueness," said Mohamed Nasr, a member of the Hamas delegation to Cairo.

 

"This offer does not talk about lifting the blockade," he told the Arabic television station Al Jazeera.

 

He said the Egyptians needed time to relay Hamas's questions to Israel.

 

Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said on Wednesday the Israelis were offering to reopen the crossings at 70 percent capacity but said Hamas wanted a more precise definition of Israel's commitment.

 

Hamas would welcome a European or Turkish presence at the crossings to write reports on what goes through, but Israel rejects this idea, he added.

 

MILITANT LEADER KILLED IN WEST BANK

Israeli troops on a West Bank arrest raid killed a top Islamic Jihad militant.

 

The military said it killed Ala a-Din Abu Rop, the 21-year-old militant commander in northern West Bank village of Qabatiya. Abu Rop's brother said he had been arrested in the past and has been wanted for the past year and a half. He said troops barged their home and shot his brother while he was sitting at a computer.

 

The military said it arrived in the home early Thursday to find Abu Rop fully armed. Weapons and ammunition were found in a search of the home, the military said. It added that Abu Rop was currently planning attacks against Israel.

 

The Israeli army frequently carries out arrest raids against militants in the West Bank.