Why Reject a Ceasefire?

Why Hamas Rejected the Ceasefire

by TRNN

On Monday night the press became aware that a ceasefire proposal was being crafted by the Egyptian government in negotiation with Israel and the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The proposal was delivered to the Hamas leadership shortly before the deadline was to take into effect, and did not include the demands the Hamas party put forward already on the second day of the fighting, conditions that would score the group political capital, namely - the release of its rearrested members, jailed in recent weeks by Israel, the lifting of the 8 year-long blockade on the strip, and the end of fire.

When Hamas' main political rival - The Islamic Jihad - announced they reject the Egyptian proposal, Hamas followed suit, leading to international criticism. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky spoke to Gaza-based blogger Nalan al Sarraj.

 

The Real News speaks to Gaza-based blogger Nalan al Sarraj about the Israeli bombardment campaign on the strip and why Hamas rejected a proposed ceasefire - July 16, 14

Lia Tarachansky is an Israeli-Russian journalist with The Real News Network reporting on Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Born in the Soviet Union, Tarachansky grew up in a settlement in the occupied West Bank. She is the director of On the Side of the Road, a documentary on Israel's biggest taboo - the events of 1948 when the state was created. Tarachansky previously worked as a Newsroom Producer in The Real News' Washington D.C. and Toronto Headquarters, and her work appeared on BBC, Al Jazeera, USA Today, Canadian Dimension Magazine and others.