Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Hamas won’t surrender to Israel even as it conducts negotiations in Egypt aimed at ending the conflict in the Gaza Strip, one of its leaders said in a broadcast today.

“Gaza will not falter; our triumph over the Zionists is close,” said Ismail Haniya, former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas’s political leader in Gaza, in a pre-taped address broadcast on the movement’s television station.

Haniya left open the possibility that a negotiated solution could end the fighting.

“We are working on two parallel tracks: The first is the track of resistance and steadfastness, and the second is the political track to confront the military aggression on our people,” said Haniya.

It was only the second time that Haniya, who has been in hiding to avoid being targeted by Israeli forces, addressed a speech to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the conflict on Dec. 27. His comments contradict earlier statements by Hamas’s Damascus-based leadership that it wouldn’t pursue negotiations while fighting raged.

A delegation of Hamas officials returned to Cairo today to continue talks with Egyptian officials on how to achieve a cease- fire, said Egypt’s presidential spokesman, Suliman Awad.

Livni Presses On

Earlier today, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israeli troops will keep fighting in the Gaza Strip until Hamas rockets no longer pose a threat to the south of the country.

“I don’t need Hamas to sign on a piece of paper,” Livni said in discussing efforts to broker a truce during an interview with Army Radio. What’s more important, she said, is that when Palestinians fire rockets into Israel, “they know they will be hurt.”

Egyptian and European diplomats are trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas in order to stop the fighting that Gaza medical officials say has killed more than 900 Palestinians.

The Israeli military, reinforced by newly called-up reservists, pressed ahead with its operation against Hamas today, striking at least 25 targets from the air and sea, and clashing with Palestinian gunmen on the ground, the army said in an e- mailed statement. Israeli troops, who had been holding positions outside Gaza City, pushed into its southern neighborhoods yesterday.

In one incident, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Israeli ground forces from a mosque and were then attacked by Israeli aircraft, the army said. Later, the Israeli troops found Qassam rockets and mortar shells inside the mosque.

Rocket Attacks Decline

The army said about 20 rockets were fired into Israel today, the 17th day of the conflict. The number of rockets fired has been cut from more than 70 per day before the war, the military said. About 500 rockets and 200 mortar shells have been launched since the start of the operation.

Calls for “Operation Cast Lead” to be ended are also growing within Israel, where Yossi Beilin, one of the architects of the 1993 Oslo peace accords, called Livni’s remarks “unforgivable” and said the government should seek a truce.

Israel should focus on getting Egypt to stop arms smuggling into Gaza by doubling its border force to 1,500 and should cease the military assault on the Palestinian territory, Beilin said.

“We must be ready to cease fire,” Beilin, a former justice minister, said in a phone interview from Tel Aviv. “If the other side breaches the cease-fire, we will have freedom of movement to fight back, but they’ve shown in the past they can observe a cease-fire.”

Egyptian Warning

While seeking to cement understandings with both sides to end the conflict, Egyptian officials reminded Hamas that the bloodshed could have been avoided.

“Egypt has repeatedly warned that a refusal to renew the truce would prompt Israel to attack Gaza and that attempts to thwart Egypt’s efforts to extend the truce was an open invitation to Israeli aggression,” the Egyptian government said in a statement from the Information Ministry.

Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by the U.S., Israel and the European Union, refuses to recognize Israel or any peace agreements with the Jewish state. The organization seeks the lifting of the blockade Israel imposed on Gaza after the group seized control of the seaside strip in June 2007 and ended a partnership government with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

Hamas “will not accept any negotiations for a cease-fire while we are under fire,” Khaled Mashaal, the Damascus-based Hamas leader, said over the weekend. “Let Israel withdraw first and our people live rightfully without a siege and with open crossings.”

Thousands of Casualties

The Israeli offensive on Gaza has killed 917 Palestinians and left 4,400 wounded, according to Mu’awia Hassanein, chief of emergency medical services in Gaza. Thirteen Israelis have died, nine from combat, according to the army.

As the fighting continues, international aid groups have warned of a humanitarian crisis, with shortages of food, water and medicines in the impoverished Gaza Strip, where about 1.5 million people live in an area of 360 square kilometers (144 square miles).

The United Nations resumed aid distribution after working out a security arrangement with Israel to ensure the safety of its drivers. One driver working for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees was killed and two were injured on Jan. 8. The UN said that Israeli gunfire killed the driver. Israel says it’s still investigating the incident.

To contact the reporters on this story: Calev Ben-David in at cbendavid@bloomberg.net; Saud Abu Ramadan in Gaza City through the Tel Aviv newsroomt .

Last Updated: January 12, 2009 16:06 EST