Hamas demands open borders

by con10t | January 25, 2009 at 09:40 am

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Hamas will not consider renewing its ceasefire with Israel on Sunday unless the Jewish state agrees to open fully its borders with the Gaza Strip, according to a senior official from the Palestinian militant group.

A Hamas delegation is due in Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian authorities aimed at shoring up the fragile ceasefire declared a week earlier, which brought the 22-day conflict in the Gaza Strip to a halt.

Hamas will accept Fatah-affiliated Gaza Strip residents to guard the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza. Hamas also expects Turkish monitors to team up with European peacekeepers at all of Gaza's border crossings, welcoming all international monitors "on the condition that they be placed at all crossings - whether between Gaza and Egypt or Gaza and Israel."[Source: monsters&critics]