Israel/Hamas

            Israel on Thursday delivered a message to Hamas via Egyptian intermediaries indicating that while it has no interest in escalating tensions along the Gaza border, it will retaliate against any attempt by the Islamist group to carry out attacks. Hamas for its part insists it is Israel that is guilty of perpetrating provocations.Nonetheless, a spokesman for the Hamas government in Gaza told a Haaretz reporter that the Islamist group is also interested in maintaining the truce, "but not from a position of weakness and if the provocation [by Israel] will be bigger than expected, the Palestinian response will not be a simple one." A senior diplomatic official in Jerusalem said Thursday that aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak held consultations with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman during which they sought to make clear that "Israel will not be the first to breach the lull, but as long as Hamas and the other organizations undertake actions that violate the calm, we will not hesitate to act." The Hamas official, Taher a-Nunu, pointed out that Israel has not eased the restriction on movement of people and goods into and out of the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire went into effect five months ago. "A continuation of the siege during the lull is unacceptable to us," he said. According to the Hamas government in Gaza, there are three motivating factors behind Israel's escalation of violence, all of which are related to one another. Barak is intent on exacerbating tensions as he gears up for general elections in the hope that he can burnish his security credentials against his opponents. At the same time, Barak would like to extend the truce (which is set to expire on December 16) but "wants to impose the continuation of the truce in blood" as a way to weaken the Palestinian side. Hamas officials say the escalation - and the subsequent renewal of the truce following the latest round of bloodshed - will ratchet up the pressure on Hamas to come to the negotiating table with the Fatah leadership in Ramallah as part of the ongoing reconciliation efforts. Ultimately, Hamas officials fear, "the Hamas government will disband voluntarily, and a national consensus government that does not include Hamas and other factions will take its place. With such a government, the weak Mahmoud Abbas will be able to make political concessions in which Israel is interested." A-Nunu was skeptical of Israel's claim that last week's operation that brought an end to the truce was aimed at thwarting a terrorist attack in the making. The IDF destroyed a tunnel it claims was being used as a conduit for militants to abduct soldiers. (07,53)