“There is a need to hold elections and Hamas should not be allowed to disrupt democratic life,” Abbas told the PLO leadership during a 75-minute speech at his headquarters in the
“...When Israel stops settlement activity for a specific period and when it recognizes the borders we are calling for, and these are the legal borders, there would be nothing to prevent us from going to negotiations,” Abbas said, sitting at a table beneath a banner with his picture and that of PLO founder Yasser Arafat.
The calm in the western Negev continues. Hamas refrains from firing rockets into Israel and its senior figures emphasize for Western ears its policy of restraint. Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha told a New York Times correspondent that “the fighters needed a break and the people needed a break.” According to the New York Times report, the decision to suspend rocket fire was “partly the result of popular pressure,” and occurred because people were questioning the value of the rockets, which they regarded as relatively ineffective. 
