Gaza situation `very dangerous,` Arabs warn Hamas

The meeting was taking place at a Gaza City hotel just days after Hamas said it would ensure militant factions obeyed a national consensus truce on rocket fire, following weeks of rising tensions along the border with Israel.

Among those invited were members of Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and other groups.

"Hamas asked us to this meeting at the Al-Quds Hotel in Gaza; they said it was urgent," one militant leader told AFP on condition of anonymity, saying the gathering had been called by Mahmud Zahar, Khalil al-Haya and Ayman Taha.

"Hamas received a message from Egypt and other parties, some of them Arab, telling them that the situation along the Gaza border is very dangerous, and that Israel might start another war if the firing of rockets continues, especially Grads," he said, referring to a Soviet-designed rocket with a range of up to 40 kilometres (24 miles).

Faaleh Ziddan, a DFLP leader involved in the talks, told AFP he was also warned of the danger of a new war during talks on Tuesday with two aides to Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.

"They told me they are very worried about the escalation in Gaza and that Israel might use the Palestinian rockets as a reason for a new war," he said.

What was needed was a "national understanding" so as to not to give Israel any reason to launch a war," he said.

"The situation is very dangerous now -- there is no trust with Israel. This meeting will discuss how to deny Israel a reason to launch the war, and how to create calm in the field."

In recent weeks, Gaza militants have fired scores of rockets into Israel, prompting a flurry of retaliatory air strikes and raising fears that the Jewish state would launch another massive operation along the lines of the 2008-9 war.

The truce was announced at the end of "Operation Cast Lead" in January 2009 and has been largely respected by Hamas but not by other militant groups.

The 22-day war, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, killed 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers. (*)