An informal ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian sides appeared in sight after three days of cross border shelling left 17 Palestinians dead,even as the Jewish state vowed to respond "most harshly" to any rocket fire on its territory by Gaza-based militants. In a rare direct appeal,Hamas asked Israel to halt the current cross border shelling,insisting that the faction wanted peace. Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,meanwhile,warned of a strong response if mortar shells and rockets continue to be fired in its southern territories. "The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) hit Hamas and the terrorist organisations hard over the weekend," he told his ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "If attacks against Israeli civilians and the IDF continue,the response will be most harsh," he asserted. The Israeli Premier was backed by by deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior,Ellie Yishai,who called on the cabinet to agree to taking "less routine" and more "stronger" action against the Gaza Strip,to curb the onslaught of rockets. Hamas' Deputy Foreign Minister,Ghazi Hamad,said in an interview to Israel Radio: "We are interested in calm but want the Israeli military to stop its operations". Yishai said that he was not envisioning "another Cast Lead" operation,referring to the war between Hamas and Israel more than two years ago,but rather "an expanded air operation". "A ground operation is completely useless. We need to do something stronger and not stay apathetic as we have been,in order to bring calm to the area," the deputy Prime Minister said. Both Islamist Hamas,which controls the Gaza Strip since June 2007,and Israel have signalled willingness towards another informal ceasefire after the escalation during the last 72 hours saw at least 19 Palestinians killed and more than 100 rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that the army would be willing to accept a mutual cease-fire with Hamas if the movement stopped firing from Gaza. "If they stop firing on our communities,we will stop firing. If they stop firing in general,it will be quiet,it will be good," Barak said. A Hamas spokesman,Sami Abu Zuhri,on the other hand was reported in the local media as saying that the Palestinian factions are not interested in escalation and calm will be restored if the Israeli attacks on Gaza stopped. Unconfirmed reports by Palestinian news agency Ma'an said that UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process,Robert Serry,has managed to reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza late last night. All the Palestinian militant factions,except Islamic Jihad,which fired three mortar shells on Sunday on Israel are said to have agreed for the ceasefire.
