Senior Iran political leader and Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani met with Hamas chairman Khaled Mashaal in Damascus Wednesday as Gaza ceasefire talks continued. The meeting lasted until early Thursday morning, but no details were revealed. Larijani also met with Islamic Jihad leaders.
Hamas has taken a severe beating in the Israeli Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign and is considering an Egyptian proposal for a truce. One sticking point is Cairo's insistence that Fatah, a bitter rival of Hamas, would place forces at the Rafiah border crossing dividing the Egyptian and Gaza sides of Rafiah.