Any deal on Gaza’s future at truce talks in Cairo must be contingent on Israel’s security needs, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday, cautioning Hamas against carrying out its threat of a long war if Palestinian demands are not met.
With a five-day ceasefire due to expire late today, negotiators were set to reconvene in the Egyptian capital to seek an end to five weeks of hostilities that have killed more than 2,000 people.
Both sides say gaps remain in reaching a long-term deal that would keep the peace between Israel and militant groups in the Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip, as well as open the way for reconstruction aid to reach the battered enclave.
Photo: AFP
As part of any enduring halt to violence, Hamas wants Israeli and Egyptian blockades of Gaza lifted, while also seeking the establishment of a seaport and airport.
Israel, which launched its offensive on July 8 after a surge in cross-border Hamas rocket attacks, has shown scant interest in making sweeping concessions and has called for the disarming of militant groups in the territory of 1.8 million people.
In public remarks to his Cabinet, Netanyahu said Hamas should not underestimate Jerusalem’s resolve to battle on.
“Only if there is a clear response to our security needs will we agree to reach understandings,” he said. “If Hamas thinks that through continued intermittent firing it will cause us to make concessions, it is mistaken. For as long as quiet does not return, Hamas will continue to absorb very harsh strikes.”
The Gaza offensive has had broad public support in Israel, where militants’ rockets — many of them intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system — have disrupted everyday life, but caused little damage and few casualties.
Commenting on Netanyahu’s remarks, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: “The only way to achieve security is to afford security to the Palestinians first and to lift the blockade and to agree to their demands.”
On Saturday, Osama Hamdan, the head of Hamas’ foreign affairs, said on Facebook: “Israel must accept the demands of the Palestinian people or face a long war.”
Egypt, which is mediating between the sides and, like Israel, views Hamas as a security threat, has given little detail on any progress in the talks.
“As of now, Israel has not agreed to any proposals,” an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.
The UN said 425,000 people in Gaza have been displaced by the war. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave says 1,980 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.
On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and three civilians have died.
Egyptian and Palestinian sources have said that at the Cairo talks, Israel had tentatively agreed to relax curbs on the movement of people and goods across the border, subject to certain conditions.
Israeli Minister of Communications Gilad Erdan, a member of Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet, said Jerusalem was examining a proposal made by Egypt as a whole and had yet to make any final decision.
“There are sections that are problematic as far as Israel is concerned,” Erdan said on Israel Radio, without elaborating.
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