Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that Israel cannot allow Hamas to rearm during the current lull in fighting in the Gaza area. Livni met with members of the American Jewish Committee and said that Israel “cannot allow the exploitation of this period of time for renewed rearming.”
Israeli officials insisted Sunday that the recent calm was not the result of a deal with Hamas, as Palestinian Authority officials claimed over the weekend. However, Army Radio reports that senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad met with Egyptian intelligence head Omar Suleiman on Sunday to discuss an Egyptian initiative that would lead to an unofficial ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.