Hamas is ready in principle to commit to a yearlong cease-fire with Israel in exchange for a full opening of Gaza's border crossings, Hamas officials said yesterday, ahead of a new round of talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo.

Egypt is trying to forge a durable truce between Israel and Gaza's Hamas leaders, in place of the temporary and increasingly wobbly cease-fire that ended Israel's three-week war on Hamas. But arrangements for border security remain a key sticking point.

Israel says it won't ease a 20-month blockade of Gaza without international guarantees that Hamas will be prevented from smuggling weapons into Gaza.