The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas on Thursday proposed a six-month truce between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with an option to extend it to include Palestinians in the West Bank.
Former Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, speaking in Cairo after meeting Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, said the calm must include an end to the Israeli blockade of the coastal strip. "The movement agrees to a calm in the Gaza Strip .... fixed at six months, during which period Egypt will work to extend the truce to the West Bank," Zahar said, reading from a Hamas statement.
A delegation led by Zahar was in Cairo Thursday to discuss the possible calm with Israel. Suleiman is expected to visit in Israel next week.
