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Dubai: Several European and Arab countries are continuing their mediation efforts to end the six-day Israel assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, a Hamas spokesperson said.
"There are several contacts from many countries [with Hamas]," said Usama Hamdan, the Hamas spokesperson in Beirut.
He refused to name any country, but added that the states involved in attempting to put an end to the Israeli attacks were "European and Arab."
"We want to achieve results in these efforts and therefore we will not allow the media to scuttle or preempt the process," Hamdan said, citing the recent French attempt to reach a ceasefire.
Paris' proposal for a two-day ceasefire was leaked to the press and then rejected by Israel.
"The main issue that I think everyone should focus on is: ending the aggression," Hamdan added.
Very painful
By its refusal, so far, to accept to end its offensive against Gaza, the Hamas official accused Israel of seeking "a Palestinian surrender", and that it is unwilling to accept the "principle of a ceasefire".
"Israel is betting on achieving gains on the ground in the coming few days that could facilitate achieving political gains afterwards. But this is not going to happen," he told Gulf News.
Yesterday's press reports said Israel had mobilised more troops along the border with Gaza preparing for a land invasion.
"We estimate that an invasion will happen, regardless of its scale. But we also estimate that such an offensive will be very painful to the Israelis and I don't think it will achieve any goal."
On the contrary, "the Israelis will find out that they have entered an uncalculated adventure," Hamdan said. He was speaking a day after the Arab Foreign ministers met in Cairo to discuss the explosive situation in Gaza.
Initially, the ministers were expected to announce an emergency Arab summit, but they didn't. Instead, they called for a binding UN resolution requiring an immediate halt to the Israeli offensive.
"Not to talk on a summit means there is a problem in the Arab position that is obvious for everybody," Hamdan said, questioning the purpose of the call to the security council, which rejected earlier calls to condemn Israel or take any action against it.
Libya presented a draft resolution from the Arab League to a UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire.
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