Hamas brands militants who fire rockets 'collaborators'

Hamas on Aug. 12 lashed out at militants who fire rockets at Israel from the Palestinian territory in violation of a seven-week-old truce, calling them collaborators. "About the rocket-firing, I think those who are responsible are those who collaborate with Israel, because there is a consensus by all Palestinian groups to respect the truce," said Mahmoud Zahar, the most influential leader of the Hamas movement in Gaza. The day before, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip slammed into an empty field outside the southern Israeli city of Sderot, causing no casualty or damage. No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for firing the rocket. Zahar told a Gaza radio station that the party which fired the rocket was "linked to Israel, as they provide a pretext to exercise pressure on the Palestinian people." After the latest firing, Israel closed the Nahal Oz crossing to Gaza that is used to ferry in fuel and the Sufa passage for food deliveries to the impoverished and blockaded territory. The Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has been under a Israeli blockade for the past year except for humanitarian aid. "After the firing of a Qassam-type rocket toward Israeli territory, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the closure of the crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip," the Defense Ministry said. In all 40 rockets and mortar rounds have been fired from Gaza since the start of the Egyptian-mediated truce, the spokesman said. Hamas insists it is respecting the truce and has vowed to crack down on smaller militant movements which still fire at Israel.