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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt : Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak warned on Monday after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that continued rocket fire from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip could accelerate a military conflict in the territory.
Barak told Mubarak, whose government is mediating a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, that "the ongoing rocket fire against civilian targets and terror activity from the Gaza Strip could accelerate an escalation towards a military conflict," his office said.
The defence minister reiterated Israel's demand "to accelerate and advance the talks for the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit as part of any attempt to normalise the situation on the ground."
Barak also called for an end to Hamas' "military build-up by thwarting weapon smuggling, terror money transfers and entry of terror activists" into Gaza.
The comments seemed to be aimed at Egypt which Israel has accused of not doing enough to stem arms smuggling.
Barak also met Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where political leaders and business people are gathered for the Middle East World Economic Forum.
Egypt has been acting as mediator because Israel refuses to negotiate directly with the Islamist Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June last year, as it considers the group to be a terrorist organisation.
In exchange for stopping rocket attacks, Hamas has said it wants Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza and reopen border crossings, especially Rafah on the frontier with Egypt.
Israel has demanded an end to rocket attacks and arms smuggling from Egypt's Sinai peninsula, as well as progress in negotiations to release Shalit, captured by Palestinian militants in 2006.
But Hamas wants 450 Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange for Shalit, whose fate has become a sticking point in negotiations.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that Israel was "very close" to deciding on what action to take to stop rocket attacks from Gaza.
"Under no circumstances can we allow the situation in the south (of Israel) to continue the way it has in recent months, and the crossroads on a decision on how things will be handled is very close," Olmert said at a weekly cabinet meeting.
He declined to elaborate amid calls from some ministers for Israel to launch a widescale assault on Gaza to crush Palestinian militants, who fired a rocket at a shopping mall in southern Israel on Wednesday while US President George W Bush was in the country.
Bush wrapped up a Middle East tour with a speech in Egypt on Sunday accusing Hamas of pursuing a policy of terror.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Monday to be briefed on Israel's response to the Egyptian-mediated truce.
The delegation includes three of the movement's Gaza-based leaders, Mahmud Zahar, Khalil al-Hayya and Jamal Abu Hashem.
The Hamas leaders led by the political wing's second-in-command Musa Abu Marzuk were to hold talks on Tuesday with Suleiman, who heads the mediation efforts, Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told AFP in Gaza.
Suleiman flew to Israel on May 12 for talks with Olmert.
Israel is concerned that Hamas would use any truce to build up its arsenal with help from Iran, said Amos Gilad, political adviser to the defence ministry.
Despite calls for a large-scale military operation in Gaza, several former army and security officials have told the government that they support indirect talks with Hamas and oppose a major assault.
"Recognising that ending the Hamas regime in Gaza is not a realistic goal and that reinstating Fatah in the Gaza Strip by means of Israeli bayonets is not desirable... non-public negotiations should take place with Hamas through Egypt or anyone else acceptable to both sides," they wrote in a letter to Olmert. - AFP/de
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