CAIRO, May 2: A delegation of the militant Palestinian Islamic Jihad group negotiating with the Egyptian government will not agree to halt attacks on Israel, a leader of the organization said on Tuesday. The delegation began talks on Tuesday with Egypt’s chief of intelligence, Omar Suleiman, who is expected to press Islamic Jihad to end its attacks on Israelis in order to revive the peace process. Last month, a Jihad suicide bomber killed nine people in an attack on a fast-food shop in Tel Aviv.

The senior level Jihad delegation that arrived in Cairo on Monday night is led by Syria-based Ramadan Shallah, said Khaled al-Batch, one of the group’s leaders, in a telephone interview from Gaza.

Al-Batch dismissed the idea that Jihad would cease attacks on Israelis as long as Israel continued to occupy Palestinian territories and assassinate Jihad leaders. “This issue is not on the table for discussion,” he told The Associated Press.

“The goal is ending occupation and halting the attacks on the Palestinians,” he said.

Palestinian groups, especially the Al Quds Brigades — Islamic Jihad’s military wing — could not have their “hands tied on the issue of Israeli aggression,” he added.

It wasn’t immediately possible to reach members of the Jihad delegation in Cairo, and Egyptian intelligence does not discuss these type of issues with the media.

Al-Batch said Jihad would consult with Egypt how to handle “the siege imposed on the Palestinian people since Hamas came to power, and bilateral relations between Islamic Jihad and the Egyptian government.”—AP