Conditional offer: Gaza group ready to halt rocket fire

Gaza militant groups signal they would halt rocket fire at Israel if Israel stopped shootings as well.

GAZA: Gaza militant groups signalled on Saturday they would halt rocket fire at Israel if Israel stopped shootings as well, after a surge in cross-border violence prompted fears of a possible escalation into war.

Hamas spokesman Ismail Rudwan said militant leaders were “committed as long as the occupation (Israel) was committed” to abide by an earlier de facto truce, after a round of talks in Gaza that followed a weeklong surge in attacks.

Israeli raids in Gaza have killed five militants and four civilians this week, a declared response to militants firing more than 70 rockets at the Jewish state, wrecking a house on Saturday, and raising alarm through much of southern Israel.

Gaza militants for their part insist that their rocket and mortar shootings are in response to Israeli air raids in the coastal territory largely sealed off by the Jewish state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened a lengthy “exchange of blows” if the violence goes on.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2011.