GAZA CITY, Dec 21: The radical Palestinian movement Hamas said on Friday it was suspending suicide operations in Israel to preserve “national unity”. But its smaller rival, the Islamic Jihad, vowed it would continue anti-Israel operations.

Hamas said it was halting “until further notice” both its suicide operations inside Israel and its mortar attacks, which have sparked waves of Israeli retaliatory military assaults in the Palestinian territories and edged the region closer to an allout war.

“We announce a halt to all martyr operations in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1948 and an end to all mortar shelling until further notice,” the group said in a statement in Gaza City.

Hamas also said it had decided to stop all its firing of mortars against Israeli targets.

“We ask all members of Hamas, especially the Al-Qassam wing, to implement this decision now,” it said.—AFP