The Palestinian National Authority(PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday evening that what the Palestinian leadership want now is an immediate ceasefire in the warring Gaza Strip, Xinhua reported.
Speaking at a press conference with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, Abbas said that he doesn't know if the Egyptian initiative about a ceasefire in Gaza will be implemented right now, but "we hope the Israeli aggression on Gaza will end as soon as possible."
"What we want now is an immediate ceasefire," Abbas stressed.
In response to a question from a reporter at the press conference about whether security forces loyal to Abbas' Fatah movement will retake control of the Rafah crossing linking Gaza with Egypt, Abbas revealed that it is not the time to discuss this issue, but "we will be committed to any solutions reached by the international community."
Earlier on Wednesday, the Spanish foreign minister said during his meeting with the Palestinian interim government Prime Minister Salam Fayyad that he is waiting for a ceasefire in Gaza, and "we' re very close to a ceasefire, but there's still some work need to be done".
Earlier on the day, local media reported that some sources in Hamas said that the Islamic movement has agreed to an Egyptian initiative aimed at ending the massive military offensive carried out by Israel since Dec. 27.
Meanwhile, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on its website on Wednesday evening that, under the Egyptian proposal, Hamas had agreed to abide by the 2005 agreement which calls for PNA forces to man the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt under the supervision of European observers.
