With his Mideast shuttle winding down, Jimmy Carter picked up the phone in Jerusalem and called the Hamas chief in Damascus, Syria, one more time.

Halt the rocket fire on Israel for a month, without preconditions, and gain some international good-will, the former U.S. president said he told Khaled Mashaal, supreme leader of the Islamic militant group, in the April 21 phone call.

But Mashaal, who had met with Carter for seven hours in Damascus, said no. Instead, Hamas leaders reiterated a pledge to accept a peace deal with Israel, provided it is approved in a Palestinian referendum, and also offered a 10-year truce if Israel withdraws from the West Bank and Jerusalem.