(AFP) – Jun 17, 2008

GAZA CITY (AFP) — The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said on Tuesday it was on the verge of reaching an agreement with Israel over an Egyptian-mediated truce in and around the Gaza Strip.

"The negotiations for a period of calm are continuing in a positive way and are almost complete," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. "We are closer to announcing an agreement on this issue."

His remarks came after a Hamas delegation left Cairo on Monday without giving a final response to the proposed ceasefire.

Egypt has been mediating indirect talks between Israel and the main Palestinian armed factions for months in a bid to secure a truce and lift an Israeli blockade of the impoverished territory.

Abu Zuhri said the proposed truce includes "a mutual ceasefire, the lifting of the siege and the opening of the crossings according to specific terms," without providing more details.

Israel has said such a truce must include a halt to the smuggling of weapons from Egypt and progress on the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants in a deadly cross-border raid in 2006.

Hamas has always insisted that Shalit is part of a separate track of indirect negotiations for a prisoner exchange, and Abu Zuhri underlined this on Tuesday saying truce talks were "separate from the Shalit issue".

Since Hamas seized power a year ago after routing forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Israeli troops and Palestinian militants have clashed on a near-daily basis and hundreds of people have been killed, mostly Palestinian militants.

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