Islamic Jihad to end ceasefire if leader banned from Gaza
Published yesterday (updated) 09/12/2012 22:03
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=546339

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Islamic Jihad will not adhere to a Nov. 21 ceasefire
deal to end recent violence in Gaza if the group's secretary-general is
banned from entering the coastal enclave by Israel, a senior group official
said Sunday.

"We had hoped that Dr. Shalah could have visited Gaza accompanied by Hamas
leader Mashaal, but the Israeli occupier had a different opinion," Jihad
official Khalid al-Batsh said during a public meeting in Gaza.

The Islamist movement will not accept the Egyptian-mediated truce deal as
long as leader Ramadan Shalah is prevented from entering the Gaza Strip,
al-Batsh added.

"We want Palestinian unity, national reconciliation and we want to see unity
embodied when Shalah and the Palestinian Authority’s president Mahmoud Abbas
visit the Gaza Strip along with all resistance factions," the official said.

"After that we will focus our efforts on our enemy."

Israel threatened to assassinate Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah if he
enters the Gaza Strip, causing the party to reconsider a planned visit,
sources said Thursday.

Egyptian authorities told Islamic Jihad that Israel rejected the visit and
would target leader Ramadan Shalah and his deputy Ziad Nakhla if they went
into Gaza, sources close to the discussions told Ma'an.

Israel launched an 8-day assault on Gaza that ended Nov. 21 with a ceasefire
agreement mediated by Egypt.