Hamas: Truce and lies

There’s a 24-hour lull in the rocket fire, according to Hamas, that they’re observing at Egypt’s request. Problem is, Egypt said they never asked for one.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry denied reports that it had requested that Hamas hold its fire, saying it was a completely false claim, Army Radio reported on Monday afternoon.

Earlier on Monday, senior Hamas official Ayman Taha said that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had stopped launching rockets at Israel as they were observing a 24-hour cease-fire at the request of Egypt.

According to Taha, the brief ceasefire went into effect on Sunday evening.

So why has there only been one rocket so far today? Well, Reuters may have the answer:

Sources in Gaza, however, said the weather conditions were preventing the gunmen from launching rockets at Israel.

I wouldn’t know if that’s true, as the weather reports I read didn’t say much beyond cloudy, with a chance of rain. Too foggy? Too clear? Who knows? What I do know is that there is no truth in Palestinian spokespeople. And Hamas is still pulling the same-old, same-old:

Ayman Taha said the brief ceasefire went into effect on Sunday evening. He said Hamas might consider a longer truce if Israel were to reciprocate by ceasing all military attacks in Gaza and lifting an embargo on the impoverished territory.

Yes, that would work. Then Hamas could really regroup and rearm, and set Israel up for a serious battle in a year or so. But not to worry. It looks like Ehud Barak is holding up the Gaza operation.

And oh yeah—now that Tzipi Livni is running for Prime Minister, she’s suddenly gotten tough on terrorists.

Livni told him the situation in southern Israel was escalating and made it clear that Israel has to defend its citizens and cannot remain indifferent in light of the situation. She added that Jerusalem still views Cairo as a mediator which may help calm the situation down.

That’s telling him, Tzipi. That’ll get those rockets stopped.