on torn truces:
The movement's spokesmen in Gaza said the firing of rockets was in response to the unprovoked and unjustified killing by Israeli death squads of innocent Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel has consistently refused to extend the ceasefire agreement to the West Bank and its occupation army continues to carry out incursions into Palestinian population centres on an almost daily basis.
(...) Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has stressed that Palestinians are not interested in escalation. "We made great efforts to keep the truce and there was a positive Palestinian position, but unfortunately this position was met by more Israeli aggression against our people," he said.
(...) According to Israeli observers, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may be seeking another bloody rampage in Gaza in the hope it will win him some badly-needed popularity, and divert attention from the Winograd Committee (the Israeli government-appointed commission of inquiry to investigate Israel's failure in its war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006) report, due to be published next week. The report is expected to blame Olmert and his government for "mismanaging" the war and could well force Olmert to resign, paving the way for fresh general elections.