A Hamas spokesman on Thursday ruled out renewing the truce in and around the Gaza Strip and insisted the Palestinan movement had a duty to respond to any attack by Israel. "There is no possibility of renewing the truce which ends on December 19 (Friday). The Zionist enemy destroyed it," Fawzi Barhum told AFP.
"We at Hamas have the right to respond to any Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people. It's a national duty," he said, adding however that the rulers of Gaza Strip would act "according to the situation on the ground."
Meanwhile, the United Nations has halted the distribution of food aid in the Gaza Strip after its stocks of wheat flour ran out. The UN Relief and Works Agency said on Thursday that "irregular border access" meant deliveries had been unable to reach the coastal territory.
