Israeli and Palestinian delegations to ceasefire talks in Cairo have agreed in principle to extend the 72-hour truce, which expires tomorrow morning, as they began negotiations on a permanent ceasefire for Gaza.
With all contact between the two delegations taking place via Egyptian mediators, and with representatives from the United States, Qatar and Turkey also involved in the discussions, the talks are expected to be lengthy and difficult.
The Palestinian delegation, comprising delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA), Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, insists that Israel end its eight- year blockade of Gaza, a measure Israel says is necessary to stop weapons being smuggled in. Israel wants Gaza demilitarised.
However, at this stage, Israel and Egypt appear to be equally determined to prevent an agreement that would provide Hamas with a diplomatic victory. According to Egyptian media reports, Cairo has made it clear that Hamas’s demand for the construction of a sea and airport in Gaza is a non-starter.
In an effort to sideline Hamas, both Israel and Egypt are insisting that the Palestinian Authority be put in charge of rehabilitating Gaza and this includes PA control of the border crossings inside Gaza.
Egypt is also refusing to accept an agreement that ties its hands over the opening of its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, arguing that only Cairo will decide what happens on its sovereign territory.
Germany, France and Britain have proposed reactivating a European Union mission to reopen the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border.
A German diplomatic source said German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and counterparts in France and Britain favoured restoring the crossing that is the main window to the world for Gaza’s 1.7 million Palestinians.
For its part, Hamas says the Israeli demand for demilitarisation of Gaza is out of the question. Senior PLO negotiator Mohammed Shtayyeh described Israel’s call for demilitarisation as “blackmail”.
“I don’t think there should be any trade between reconstruction of Gaza, humanitarian aid, relief aid and demilitarisation of Gaza,” he said.
Ismail Haniyeh, former Hamas prime minister in Gaza, said Hamas would not give Israel a victory at the talks.
“Our delegation in Cairo has the support of the entire Palestinian nation. We are co-operating with our brothers in Qatar and Turkey, who are helping us with the Egyptian negotiators to stop the Zionist aggression. Whatever the enemy was not able to accomplish on the battlefield, it will not accomplish in the diplomatic arena either,” he said.
With each side rejecting most of the other’s demands before substantive talks begin, it seems the emerging agreement will be similar to the one that ended the previous conflict in Gaza, Operation Pillar of Defence, in 2012.
That agreement included an end to hostilities; a clause dealing with the movement of people and goods through the crossings; and clarifications on a fishing zone off the Gaza coast.
United States secretary of state John Kerry, in a BBC interview, made it clear he was looking for a more substantive agreement, asking: "How are we going to make peace? How are we going to eliminate these rockets? How are we going to demilitarise and move towards a different future?"
