Robert Serry, the outgoing U.N. representative to the Middle East, has reportedly proposed a 3- to 5-year cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to facilitate Gaza's rehabilitation following 2014's Operation Protective Edge. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Palestinian media Monday that while Gaza's rulers have been approached in the matter by "certain international parties," they have yet to respond to the offer. "A decision like this requires a national Palestinian agreement," he said. "This issue should be addressed within the framework of national consensus." Another Hamas official later denied reports suggesting the terrorist group had been the one to suggest it would agree to a 5-year truce in exchange for Israel lifting the maritime blockade that has been imposed on the enclave since Hamas violently took over Gaza in June 2007. Senior Hamas official in Gaza Salah el-Bardaweel denied Israeli reports on the proposal, telling Arab media, "There are no agreements on any truce or cease-fire with the Israeli occupation, except the one reached in Cairo last summer. ... The Israeli media reports are lies and falsehood." Serry, who was replaced by former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov as the U.N.'s envoy to the region last week, visited Gaza last Monday. In a statement issued following the visit, he said, "The rehabilitation of Gaza will take years and for that we need time and a commitment from all concerned parties for a long-term 'reconstruction hudna' ... to which all Palestinian factions should be committed. During my visit, I have been urging my counterparts in Gaza to commit themselves to what will be needed from their side -- a multi-year freeze of military activities above and below ground. "I have received indications that they [Hamas] are willing to consider this, provided the other parties respond in further opening crossings to enable Gaza's full and accelerated recovery and reconstruction." Meanwhile, Palestinian security forces in the West Bank arrested dozens of Hamas officials Sunday, and Palestinian sources said the animosity between the rival Palestinian factions has reached a new high. Hamas officials in Gaza said that the continued harassment and arrests of group operatives in the West Bank may result in the dissolution of the Palestinian unity government, which was installed in October. According to one Hamas official, Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have been conducting nightly raids against Hamas operatives for the past week, arresting over 100 of them so far. On Sunday and Monday alone, some 40 Hamas operatives were arrested across West Bank cities, he said. Hamas has accused the Palestinian Authority of conducting the raids to appease Israel, in a bid to secure tax revenue Jerusalem collects on behalf of Ramallah, the transfer of which was suspended following Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' application to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Palestinians were granted ICC membership effective April 1. A senior Palestinian security forces official told Israel Hayom the arrests followed intelligence indicating Hamas terrorist cells were being formed across the West Bank.
