Israel: Gaza truce depends on Hamas control over Jihad

[Behind the Aegis]

Israel is waiting for the results of talks between Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups in Cairo this Wednesday before it takes a position on a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Security officials have said that if Hamas cannot restrain the smaller groups, first and foremost Islamic Jihad, there will not be much point to the agreement. Without completely restraining the smaller groups, the firing of Qassam rockets from the Strip will soon resume, they say, as has happened in the past.

Israel is not officially a party to the agreement being discussed, which would be between Hamas and Egypt. But the offices of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni receive steady reports on talks between Egypt, Hamas and other groups.

If Egypt reaches an agreement with all the groups, its intelligence chief coordinating the talks, Omar Suleiman, may soon come to Israel. Suleiman has postponed several trips to Israel in recent months.

Meanwhile, Hamas tried Saturday to emphasize Egypt's role in the cease-fire, or tahadiyeh. The head of the Hamas political wing, Khaled Meshal, said Saturday that Egypt had asked Israel to agree on a cease-fire - Hamas had not asked Israel. Hamas released a statement warning that if Israel does not agree to the tahadiyeh "the other ways are open .... The Zionist enemy understands only the language of force and blood."

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