Cairo talks set to resume, but long-term deal seems far off

With a five-day cease-fire due to expire late on Monday, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were 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 Islamist-dominated Gaza Strip, and open the way for reconstruction aid to reach the battered enclave.

Hamas wants Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the Gaza Strip lifted, as well as the establishment of a seaport and airport, as part of any enduring halt to violence.

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in public remarks to his Cabinet, said Hamas should not underestimate Israel's resolve to battle on.

"The Israeli delegation in Cairo is acting with a very clear mandate to stand firmly on Israel's security needs," he said on Sunday. "Only if there is a clear response to our security needs will we agree to reach understandings."

"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."

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 few details on progress in the talks.

"As of now, Israel has not agreed to any proposals," an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.

The United Nations said 425,000 people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced by the war. The Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave says 1,980 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and three civilians have been killed.

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 Communications Minister Gilad Erdan, a member of Netanyahu's security Cabinet, said Israel was examining the Egyptian proposal 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.

The Palestinian demand for a Gaza seaport and reconstruction of an airport destroyed in previous conflicts with Israel has been a stumbling block, with Israel citing security reasons for opposing their operation.

Israel and Hamas have not met face to face in Cairo: Israel regards Hamas, which advocates its destruction, as a terrorist group. The Palestinian delegation includes representatives of Hamas and US-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, who brought his former Islamist rivals into a unity government in April.

(China Daily 08/18/2014 page11)