While Hamas officials have been boasting about the concessions they say they have exacted from Israel, Israeli officials have played down the deal, saying that nothing had yet been agreed beyond the immediate cessation of hostilities. On Thursday, the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, said dismissively that Hamas's main achievement so far was getting a document that was typed rather than handwritten. In substance, Israelis said that they agreed to discuss the border and other issues, but that those talks had not yet begun -- and there did not appear even to be a mechanism in place for starting. |
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Sheila Samples is an Oklahoma writer and a former civilian US Army Public Information Officer. She is a Managing Editor for OpEd News, and a regular contributor for a variety of Internet sites.