Islamic Groups Reject Truce in Egypt Peace Talks

Islamic Jihad, Hamas want more concessions before truce with Israel
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 27, 2008 3:49 PM CDT
Islamic Groups Reject Truce in Egypt Peace Talks
Two women stand in the damaged storefront of a shop after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza, landed in the southern town of Sderot Wednesday, March 26, 2008.    (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Egypt’s talks with Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, aimed at establishing a truce with Israel, ended unsuccessfully today, Reuters reports. The militant groups demanded Israel stop Gaza and West Bank raids, end its Gaza blockade, and reopen border-crossings. Hamas and Israel already appear to have instituted a de facto ceasefire, Reuters notes. Islamic Jihad continues to fire rockets into Israel.

Egypt is hosting the talks—with US blessing—in a town on the border with Gaza, which Hamas seized from the secular Fatah faction led by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas last summer. President Bush says he hopes a peace deal can be brokered before he leaves office in January. (More Hamas stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X