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Hamas rejects cease-fire proposal

The military arm of Hamas has rejected an Egyptian cease-fire proposal, its official Web site reported Tuesday morning.

The proposed plan had been the most serious attempt yet by an international mediator to end the Hamas attacks and Israeli counterstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

The proposal was “an initiative of kneeling and submission,” the al-Qassam Brigades said in its Web site.

Meanwhile, Israel approved the plan during a Security Cabinet meeting early Tuesday.

“We are still under occupation and resistance is the right of the people,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

Israel is demanding an extended halt to Hamas rocket attacks, but it, too, had expressed reservations over the cease fire proposal.

One member of the Security Cabinet, Naftali Bennett, said Tuesday that he would oppose it, calling it “good for Hamas and bad for Israel.

Egypt’s three-step proposal would have started with a temporary cease-fire to go into effect within 12 hours of “unconditional acceptance.”

With Wires