Cairo/Beirut - A delegation from Hamas' leadership in Gaza on Tuesday crossed into Egypt to continue cease-fire negotiations in Cairo as Israelis went to the polls in an election whose outcome could influence the talks.

The four-member delegation, which includes the movement's spokesman, Ayman Taha, will join other Hamas negotiators who have been meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials to hash out a deal to establish a long-term ceasefire and open Gaza's borders.

Paris - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak said Monday in Paris that a ceasefire could come into effect in the Middle East "perhaps as early as next week," French media reported.

Mubarak made the statement after holding talks about the situation in the strife-torn region with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace.

The Egyptian president invited Sarkozy to take part in a conference on the reconstruction of Gaza to be held March 2 in Cairo. Both leaders have been active in trying to broker a truce between Hamas and Israel.

Cairo  - Palestinian and Egyptian sources on Sunday indicated that Hamas may present a unified, final negotiating position on a long-term truce in Gaza as soon as Monday, local media reported.

But even as Hamas reportedly moved closer to accepting a truce, Palestinian militants fired a rocket at southern Israel, damaging cars but causing no casualties, Israeli military officials said.

A delegation of Hamas leaders from Gaza led my Mahmoud al-Zahar was due in Damascus Sunday for consultations with leaders in exile there.

Tel Aviv  - Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a missile at southern Israel Sunday morning, causing no injuries but damaging several vehicles, including one which went up in flames, an Israeli military spokesman said.

The rocket came as Egypt continued to try and broker a long-term ceasefire deal between Israel and the Islamic Hamas movement, which administers the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the Palestinian militias in the Strip separately announced ceasefires in January 18, to end a three-week-long Israel offensive directed against militants in the salient, prompted by rocket barrages on southern Israel.

Ankara  - The Turkish government has sent a delegation to Damascus to meet exiled Hamas leaders in an attempt to secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, CNN-Turk reported on Friday.

CNN-Turk said the delegation had hopes Shalit would be released in the shortest possible time.

Shalit was captured near Gaza in a cross-border raid by Hamas militants in June 2006. Israel has insisted that it will not agree to any long-term truce in the Gaza Strip if Shalit is not released.

Turkish officials have been in contact with Hamas leaders for a number of years and have played an active role in trying to organize a long-term truce in Gaza.

Rafah, Egypt  - A senior Hamas member trying to return to Gaza Thursday after talks with Egyptian mediators was turned back at the Rafah crossing by border guards who found cash in his bags totalling nearly 12 million dollars.

But Senior Hamas member Ayman Taha was allowed back into the strip late Thursday after Egyptian authorities insisted he put the money in a bank in the north Sinai town of Arish, al-Arabiya news channel reported.