Hundred of thousands ready to become martyrs

       "If Israel has 200 nuclear warheads, the Palestinian people have 200,000 suicide bombers, waiting to blow themselves up in the presence of Zionists and be martyred," Hamas leader Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar said in Gaza on Tuesday. During a conference held at the Islamic University of Gaza, Zahar said that Chief of Egyptian Intelligence Omar Suleiman would declare the beginning of a ceasefire if the "Zionist entity" were to agree to it. Despite the ceasefire negotiations, 15 Qassam rockets and 20 mortar shells were fired at Israel on Tuesday. According to Zahar, if Israel delays in accepting the truce it will pay a heavy price. "We are a people under siege and we have no choice but to use all of our resources to protect ourselves from the occupation." He assumed Israel would accept the truce, but "dawdle over a number of issues," stressing that the opening of all border crossings would be a condition for the Egyptian initiative to pass. He estimated that the issue of the ceasefire would be determined next week, during Suleiman's visit to Israel. He explained that Hamas has refused former US President Jimmy Carter's proposal, that Hamas declare a one-sided truce as a confidence-building step. (01,03)