Ahmad Yousef, advisor to deposed Palestinian prime minister Isma'il Haniya, has said that Hamas agrees to maintain a state of long-term hudna (ceasefire) with Israel and that contacts between Hamas and Israeli religious elements have proposed a six-month hudna in exchange for opening the crossings.

Yousef also said that secret channels of dialogue between Fatah and Hamas had been opened in order to find a way out of the domestic Palestinian crisis.

With regard to the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit, Yousef said that in the absence of an Egyptian delegation in the Gaza Strip, European elements were acting on the matter.

Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Palestinian Authority, September 21, 2007