Hamas officials in Cairo ahead of Israeli visit

Hamas officials in Cairo ahead of Israeli visit

Hamas leaders hide in foreign missions: Israel

Cairo talks

Israel made clear it will not halt its offensive until it guarantees that no weapons enter Gaza

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/CAIRO (Agencies)

Israel accused Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip on Sunday of hiding in foreign diplomatic missions in an effort to elude Israeli forces, as Hamas officials were in Cairo for talks aimed at brokering a ceasefire in Gaza.

"The leaders of Hamas and the armed wing are hiding in bunkers, hospitals and foreign missions," Israeli Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel told reporters, basing his information on an intelligence briefing received by ministers.

He did not name the missions. Few countries have diplomatic missions in Gaza and even Egypt has withdrawn its staff.

The United Nations says it keeps Hamas fighters out of the schools, clinics and other institutions it runs there.

But Hamas officials reject Israeli insinuations that their behavior is cowardly. "Fear is the last thing we could be accused of," Hamas parliamentarian Mushir al-Masri said. "Martyrdom is our dearest wish, but God has ordered us not to pose ourselves as easy prey for our enemies." The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth reported at the weekend that Hamas leaders were hiding in a basement at Shifa hospital, Gaza's foremost medical facility.

Cairo talks " A ceasefire is very important, we cannot put the parties to negotiations as long as the fighting is continuing, " Head of Egyptian State Information Service Ismail Khart In the meantime, Egypt was holding talks with Hamas officials on Sunday aimed at brokering a ceasefire in Gaza ahead of further negotiations with Israeli officials on Monday, an Egyptian official said. "A meeting is taking place with a Hamas delegation and talks will resume tomorrow with the Israelis," said Ismail Khart, head of Egypt's State Information Service. The talks are aimed at "obtaining a ceasefire based on the Egyptian initiative" to end the war in Gaza, he said. Senior Israeli defense official Amos Gilad is in charge of negotiating with Egypt on an eventual ceasefire. Gilad was in Cairo for initial talks on the Egyptian truce plan on Thursday. "A ceasefire is very important, we cannot put the parties to negotiations as long as the fighting is continuing," said Khart. The Egyptian plan seeks to meet Israel's requirement of preventing weapons going to Gaza through Egyptian tunnels and Hamas's demand for a reopening of Gaza's borders to normal traffic. Mussa Abu Marzuk, the Damascus-based deputy head of the Hamas politburo, said Friday that his movement wanted "clarifications" on the plan. Israel said it is seeking U.S. guarantees to back up the Egyptian proposal on how to stem arms smuggling into Gaza. The Jewish state has repeatedly made clear it will not halt its offensive until an international mechanism is created that no weapons enter Gaza via the hundreds of tunnels that snake into the Palestinian territory from Egypt.

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