Hamas Reaches Out With An Olive Branch

... isn't that nice?

Isn't it amazing how assymetrical this war is? Hamas rocket attacks never make the front pages, but Israeli airstrikes always do. Israeli peace overtures to Hamas never get attention, but Hamas calls for peace do.

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Hamas would accept an immediate weeklong cease-fire if it is accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, said Hamas official Mussa Abu Marzuk.

The group is also demanding that border crossings are opened and is willing to accept European or Turkish monitors at those sites, Abu Marzuk, deputy to the Islamic group’s political leader, Khalid Mashaal, said in an interview yesterday in Damascus.

“We want an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops that entered Gaza,” Abu Marzuk said in the most detailed comments on the talks by a senior Hamas official. He said the group would be willing to negotiate a yearlong cease- fire during the cessation.

Isn't that kind of them to offer peace talks like that? I wonder if things like this had anything to do with it.

If so, wouldn't it then make sense for Israel to just go over and whack them continually whether they were firing rockets or not? Every time the Israelis want to have a conversation with Hamas, their opening move should be to blow up huge chunks of Gaza. It's clear that such behavior gets Hamas to the bargaining table. it's equally clear that not blowing things up does not.