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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Palestinians and Israelis accept new 72-hour cease-fire offer |
| 2014-08-11 |
| [ARABNEWS] Paleostinian and Israeli negotiators on Sunday accepted an Egyptian proposal for a new 72-hour truce, clearing the way for a possible resumption of talks on a long-term cease-fire arrangement in the Gazoo Strip. Egypt brokered a similar truce last week. But after the three-day window, Gazoo turbans resumed rocket fire on Israel and new fighting erupted. The Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said they accepted Egypt's latest offer Sunday. But they said they were wary after last week's breakdown. Paleostinian negotiators accepted the Egyptian proposal ahead of the Israelis. "We are here to look for an agreement. We cannot have an agreement without talks, so we accepted an Egyptian proposal to have a cease-fire for 72 hours in order to resume the talks," said a Paleostinian negotiator. He, along with other Paleostinian negotiators who confirmed the decision, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media. The Egyptian-mediated talks are aimed at reaching a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, following the heaviest fighting between the bitter enemies since Hamas took control of the Gazoo Strip in 2007. In nearly a month of fighting, more than 1,900 Paleostinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, nearly 10,000 were maimed and thousands of homes were destroyed. Sixty-seven people were killed on the Israeli side, including three civilians. The fighting ended in a 72-hour cease-fire last Tuesday, during which Egypt had hoped to mediate a longer-term agreement. But when the three-day window expired, turbans resumed their rocket fire, sparking Israeli reprisals. The violence has continued throughout the weekend, albeit at a lower level than during the height of the war. Earlier Sunday, Paleostinians threatened to quit the negotiations if Israel did not return, while Israeli leaders said there would be no talks while the rocket fire continues. "Israel will not negotiate under fire," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, warning that his country's military campaign "will take time." The Israeli military said rocket fire continued throughout the day, with at least 24 projectiles fired into Israel. Israel responded with some 35 Gazoo officials said at least three people, including a 14-year-old boy and a woman, were killed in the Hamas is seeking an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has been in place in varying forms for seven years and decimated the local economy. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent arms smuggling, and it says Hamas must disarm as part of any long-term arrangement. Hamas has said handing over its arsenal, which is believed to include several thousand remaining rockets, is inconceivable. The blockade has greatly limited the movement of Paleostinians in and out of the impoverished territory of 1.8 million people for jobs and study abroad. It has also limited the flow of goods into Gazoo, and blocked virtually all of Gazoo's exports. An Egyptian crackdown on a network of smuggling tunnels along Gazoo's southern border has made things even tougher by robbing Hamas of its key economic pipeline and weapons conduit. As a result, Gazoo's economy is in the doldrums, with an unemployment rate above 50 percent and Hamas unable to pay the salaries of tens of thousands of workers. A senior Paleostinian negotiator acknowledged that the Paleostinians would make more modest demands if cease-fire talks resume. He said they will seek an end to the bloodshed in Gazoo, internationally backed efforts to rebuild and an easing — but not an end — to the blockade. "We might not get everything we want, particularly on freedom of movement. But we believe the Israelis and the world have gotten the point that Gazooks should live normally and things should be much better than today," said one negotiator. An easing of the blockade would mean an increased role for Western-backed Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , whose forces were ousted in the Hamas takeover seven years ago. Officials said that the rival Paleostinian factions were already exploring options that would give Abbas a foothold in Gazoo, including the likely control of its border crossing with Egypt. At a minimum, though, Israel will want guarantees that the rocket fire will stop. A cease-fire that ended a weeklong round of fighting in 2012 promised an easing of the blockade, but was never implemented — in part because of sporadic rocket attacks by various armed factions in Gazoo. Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said Hamas could get the blockade lifted by accepting longstanding international demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. "Basically what they are trying now to do is not to lift the blockade," she told a news conference. "They want to get legitimacy as a terrorist organization, without accepting the requirements of the international community." The current Gazoo war escalated from the abduction and killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank in June. Israel blamed the killings on Hamas and launched a massive arrest campaign, rounding up hundreds of its members in the West Bank, as Hamas and other turbans unleashed rocket fire from Gazoo. |
| Posted by:Fred |