With
72-hour cease-fire set to expire at midnight Wednesday, Cairo talks
reach a decisive stage • Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon: Fighting may
break out again; we must be alert and ready • Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman: Israel must take the initiative, finish the story.
Defense Minister Moshe
Ya'alon visits a Navy ship in Ashdod, Tuesday
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Photo credit: Ariel Hermoni |
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With the latest 72-hour cease-fire set to
expire at midnight Wednesday, the only certainty about what will follow
is uncertainty.
According to Israeli officials, the ongoing
cease-fire talks in Cairo have hit a stalemate, and Israel's political
echelon is prepared for the possibility that fighting in Gaza will
resume after the 72-hour cease-fire ends.
A cabinet meeting that had been scheduled for
Tuesday afternoon was canceled. However, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu did meet with heads of coalition parties on Tuesday to update
them on developments in Cairo, or lack thereof.
"Hamas is negotiating like someone who has nothing to lose," a senior Israeli political official said Tuesday.
During a visit to a Navy base in Ashdod on
Tuesday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said. "I don't know if we will
reach an agreement by midnight on Wednesday. I don't know if we need to
extend the negotiations. It could be that fighting will break out once
again. We have to be alert and ready," Ya'alon said.
In a Channel 2 interview on Tuesday, Finance Minister Yair Lapid said hostilities might resume on Wednesday night.
"It won't be the same fighting, because we
will strike much harder," Lapid warned. "This is an attempt to achieve
quiet for residents of the south, and all options are on the table --
Operation Protective Edge is not over."
Lapid said the gaps in the Cairo talks remain wide. According to Lapid, Hamas is getting weaker with each passing day.
"[Hamas is] a murderous terrorist organization
that seeks to kill Jewish children in Nahal Oz, Sderot and everywhere
else," Lapid said. "Until we ensure security, we won't stop."
During a visit to southern Israel on Wednesday
morning, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, "Israel cannot allow a
war of attrition."
Lieberman said Israel must "take the
initiative, even if it means a significant escalation. Finish the story
in the shortest time possible."
Israeli officials said Israel would not make
concessions to Hamas in the Cairo talks, but would distinguish between
security-related issues and other matters. Israel is apparently not
opposed to an Egyptian proposal for Hamas to receive third-party funding
to pay salaries to civil servants in Gaza. Israel is also not opposed
to allowing commercial goods to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing
and increasing aid to the people of Gaza, as long as Israel retains
supervision of the crossing.
Israel will not intervene on the issue of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Israeli officials said.
However, Israel opposes the establishment of a
seaport and an airport in Gaza. It also will not release Palestinian
prisoners, except perhaps for several dozen fighters captured in recent
weeks during Operation Protective Edge.
As for the Palestinian intentions, there were
conflicting reports on Tuesday, perhaps stemming from internal disputes
within the Palestinian negotiating delegation in Cairo. While
representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza are interested in a
long-term cease-fire agreement, and are willing to extend the current
72-hour cease-fire by a day or two to reach such an agreement,
representatives of Palestinian groups abroad, particularly from Hamas,
are insisting that the current cease-fire not be extended and that
rocket fire at Israel be resumed, if necessary. A Hamas official was
quoted as saying that the group was "prepared for prolonged fighting" if
its demands were not met.
According to a report by the Lebanese Al
Mayadeen news outlet, a key issue that remains to be solved is Israel's
demand for the remains of soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin to be
returned. Hamas official Muhammad Nazal said Hamas would not tie this
issue to the cease-fire talks.
"Israel has gotten used to receiving its
demands without giving anything in return," Nazal said. "We won't agree
to discuss the return of bodies in the cease-fire talks. On this issue,
there will be separate negotiations."
Lieberman said on Wednesday that he would not
support any cease-fire agreement that does not include the return of the
remains of Shaul and Goldin. The foreign minister threatened that if
Hamas did not give back the remains of the soldiers, it would receive
the bodies of Mohammed Deif, Ismail Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders in
Gaza instead.
Palestinian sources on Tuesday accused Egypt
of thwarting progress in the cease-fire talks, as a way of putting
pressure on Hamas to withdraw some of its demands regarding the Rafah
crossing.
Yet there were also optimistic Palestinian
reports on Tuesday. Deputy Hamas political office chief Moussa Abu
Marzouk wrote on his Facebook page that the Cairo talks were moving "in a
positive direction." And an Islamic Jihad official said, "A final
agreement on a permanent cease-fire and the lifting of the blockade of
the Gaza Strip will be achieved by Wednesday."
According to Arab media reports, Israel has agreed to
gradually expand the Gaza fishing zone. It will also reportedly allow
construction materials into Gaza, under international supervision. Also,
the number of trucks carrying goods into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom
crossing will reportedly be doubled and 5,000 Palestinians per month
will be allowed to travel from Gaza to the West Bank, via the Erez
crossing.
Meanwhile, Hamas said at least five Palestinians were killed on Wednesday morning in northern Gaza when unexploded Israeli ordnance detonated as sappers tried to defuse it.
Meanwhile, Hamas said at least five Palestinians were killed on Wednesday morning in northern Gaza when unexploded Israeli ordnance detonated as sappers tried to defuse it.
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