Officials said on Monday thar it was likely that the cease-fire with Hamas would go into effect in the next few days. On Sunday, a Hamas delegation met in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to discuss the format of the deal. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that the cease-fire talks were nearing completion.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that one of the goals of the cease-fire was to expedite the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Cpl. Gilad Schalit. Once and if the cease-fire goes into effect, Barak said, Israel will need to make "painful decisions" on the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Schalit. "It will be difficult to renew negotiations over Schalit if we are in the midst of a wide-scale conflict with Hamas in Gaza," Barak said during a Labor Party meeting in the Knesset.
Also Monday, a US military delegation arrived along the Egyptian-Gaza border and was assisting border police there in setting up tunnel-detection equipment to counter smuggling under the Philadelphi Corridor. Egyptian officials said Cairo had spent $30 million on the advanced tunnel-detection devices.
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