RAMALLAH, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman of the Hamas-led Palestinian
coalition government accused Israel on Tuesday of being unable to play a role in
the peace process, saying the Jewish state is not a peace partner.
"The Israeli government is unable to be a peace partner and refuse to
respond to the continual Palestinian initiatives," said government spokesman
Mustafa al-Barghouti, who is also the information minister.
Al-Barghouti made the remarks following Israeli threats to launch a new
offensive into the Gaza Strip where militants have stepped up rocket attacks
against nearby Israeli communities.
"These threats reveal the true intentions of the feeble Israeli government
especially as they came after the United States offered a security plan," the
spokesman added.
Both Israel and the Palestinian factions did not welcome the American
timeline proposal which aims at stopping Palestinian rocket attacks in exchange
for easing movement through Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Israel's Ha'aretz daily revealed that the Israeli army had drawn
up a plan to deal with the rockets that being fired from northern Gaza Strip.
The five-point plan is based on resuming assassinations against rocket
squads and expanding buffer zone inside the security fence around the north of
Gaza, said the report.