Hamas leaders meet in Gaza amid Israel truce reports

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The leadership of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is to convene late Friday for a rare meeting, officials said, amid speculation of a long-term truce between the Gaza Strip's rulers and Israel.

The meeting comes as a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces in clashes along the border between Gaza and Israel.

A senior Hamas source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the leadership would meet in the evening in Gaza City to discuss a number of issues, including a possible agreement. It will be the full first meeting of the movement's political bureau since talks held in Cairo in 2017, officials said.

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Hamas militant Mohammad al-Areer who was killed in Israeli tank fire, during his funeral in Gaza City, July 26, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Among those attending will be Hamas's deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri, who crossed the border from Egypt on Thursday with eight other Hamas leaders based outside Gaza. Aruri, who lives in Lebanon and has never before visited Gaza as he is wanted by Israel, was given Egyptian and United Nations assurances over his safety, the Hamas source said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday delayed a planned visit to Colombia amid speculation that a truce agreement could be reached within days. Such a deal would involve a long-term cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in exchange for a significant easing of the Jewish state's crippling economic blockade of Gaza, according to Hamas and UN officials.

An agreement could allow international donors to fund a series of programs including electricity and water network upgrades in Gaza. It could also cover a prisoner exchange with Hamas, which holds the bodies of two soldiers killed in a 2014 war, Israeli media say.

October 12, 2017: Azzam al-Ahmad (R) of Fatah and Saleh al-Aruri (L) of Hamas shake hands after signing a reconciliation deal in Cairo, Egypt. /VCG Photo

On Friday, Ezzat al-Rishaq, a member of the Hamas political office, told protesters along the border they were "committed to calm."

"We do not want war and we are determined to spare our people in Gaza a new war," he said.

A Palestinian on the Gaza border was shot dead by Israeli soldiers on Friday, in the latest round of deadly clashes on the frontier. Ahmed Yaghi, 25, was killed by a sniper east of Gaza City according to the enclave's health ministry. More than 50 people were wounded, the ministry's spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.

At least 158 Palestinians have been killed in border demonstrations which began at the end of March, while one Israeli soldier has been shot dead.

According to the Israeli army, some 8,000 Gazans gathered at different spots along the frontier Friday, attempting to sabotage the Israeli border fence.

(Top photo: Hamas leader Husam Badran (C) speaks at the Israel-Gaza border, east of Gaza city, August 3, 2018. /VCG Photo)

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Source(s): AFP