Hamas criticizes rocket firing on Israel

The Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers have voiced rare criticism of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. According to the AP, Hamas says now is the wrong time for these attacks.

Hamas said Thursday that it was not behind recent attacks and that it was investigating who was responsible.

Meanwhile, a Hamas spokesman said Palestinian factions trying to hammer out a power-sharing agreement are struggling to reconcile their differences toward peace talks with Israel. According to Fawzi Barhoum, the disagreement is one of the key hurdles holding up the formation of a new unity government between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas is refusing to accept past agreement with Israel. "We were not part of these agreements, and therefore, no one should expect us to endorse them," Barhoum told The Associated Press in Cairo.

Egypt has set a Saturday deadline for the factions to produce an agreement and hopes to host a signing ceremony by the end of March.