Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar said in a statement to Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram on Tuesday that his movement is ready to renew the calm with Israel based on the conditions of the original calm deal, brokered by Cairo earlier this year. In his statement to Al-Ahram daily, Zahar conveyed that Hamas is willing to evaluate the outcome of the six-month calm that ended Friday. He said this will be done following the end of the 24 hour halt of rocket firing declared by Hamas on Monday.
In other comments, Zahar told Israel's Channel 10 TV that the truce could be restored, and added that "the price is the lives of the Palestinian people." Part of the demands, Zahar said, in regards to the new Egyptian-brokered calm, are regular food and electricity supplies from Israel, along with ending Israeli military actions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as was stipulated in the original calm.
