Hamas called on Sunday for a cease-fire with Israel. Gaza's Hamas government "is ready to offer a truce at this time," Mohammed Awad, a senior Hamas official, told a Gaza Web site affiliated with the Islamic group.
Awad's office confirmed he had made the statement. An Israeli government spokesman dismissed Awad's statement as a "ploy."
According to Awad, the truce wikk only be possible if it helped "to achieve some goals for our people."
Israeli government spokesman David Baker accused Hamas of trying to buy time. "We've seen Hamas and other terror organizations use these calls for a cease-fire as a mere ploy in order to allow them to rearm, regroup and reorganize," Baker said, according to the AP. "Israel will continue to take the necessary steps to defend its citizens and will not sit idly by while these terrorist organizations continue to actively plan and eventually perpetrate terror attacks against us."
