GAZA CITY – Palestinian factions met in the Gaza Strip on Saturday to discuss renewing a de facto truce with Israel after a week of bloody clashes, militants attending the talks said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said on Friday that Israel was ready to act with “great force” in response to the week’s rocket and mortar attacks, which led to retaliatory Israeli strikes that killed eight Palestinians. One Palestinian faction member said the Gaza meeting would probably “stress again a commitment to a field truce at the moment the Israeli occupation commits to it.”
A source close to the meeting said “the issue of returning stability and calm to Gaza after a series of Israeli aggressions will be discussed.” Hamas had pledged on Wednesday “to restore calm” in the coastal enclave. “We confirm that our stance in the government is set on protecting the stability,” Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nunu said in a statement. “We will work to restore the field conditions that were prevalent over the last few weeks.”
