JERUSALEM – Egyptian-brokered talks between Israel and Hamas on a new border deal for Gaza were thrown into doubt Saturday after senior officials said an Israeli team would not rejoin negotiations in Cairo unless rocket fire from Gaza militants – from factions other than Hamas – stops.
A day after the end of a temporary truce, cross-border attacks continued Saturday, though at a lower intensity than on most days in the past month of fighting.
The indirect talks in Cairo – which began earlier in the week with Egyptians shuttling between the Israeli and Palestinian delegations – were meant to produce a sustainable cease-fire and new border arrangements for Gaza.
Israel and Egypt have severely restricted trade and movement in and out of Gaza since Hamas was elected by democratic vote seven years ago.
However, the gaps are wide, making it unlikely the two sides can reach a comprehensive deal envisioned by the international community, including an opening of Gaza’s borders and arrangements for the war-battered territory’s reconstruction.
Israel has said it will not open Gaza’s borders unless militant groups, including Hamas, disarm. Hamas has said handing over its weapons arsenal, which is believed to include several thousand remaining rockets, is inconceivable.
Instead, one proposal circulated by the Egyptian mediators offered a minor easing of some of the restrictions, according to Palestinian negotiators who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss internal deliberations with the media. It was not clear if this was an Egyptian or an Israeli proposal.
The Palestinian negotiators said they rejected the ideas, insisting on a complete end to the blockade.
The Palestinian team includes Hamas officials and representatives of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The delegation agrees on the broader demands, despite some disagreements about tactics, such as whether to extend a three-day truce earlier this week, participants said.
The temporary truce had launched the talks amid expectations it would be extended to allow for continued negotiations.
However, Hamas refused to extend unless Israel agreed in principle to a lifting of the blockade. Azzam al-Ahmad, who is close to Abbas and heads the Palestinian delegation, had urged Hamas to accept the extension.
After the truce expired Friday morning, Gaza militants from non-Hamas factions resumed rocket fire.
The Israeli delegation left Cairo on Friday morning, while the Palestinian team remained in the Egyptian capital.
Palestinian negotiators had expected their Israeli counterparts to return Saturday evening, after the end of the Jewish Sabbath.
However, senior Israeli officials said this was unlikely because of the rocket attacks from Gaza on Saturday.
“We are not sending the delegation, and we are not negotiating as long as there is fire,” Cabinet minister Yuval Steinitz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, told Israel TV’s Channel 10.
“We have said that and that is also the Egyptian position and since Hamas does not honor the cease-fire it cannot expect negotiations,” he said.
The foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany meanwhile called on both sides to “immediately” resume the cease-fire, according to a joint statement published on the website of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
The current Gaza war escalated from the abduction and killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank in June. Israel blamed the killings on Hamas – with no proof offered – and launched a massive arrest campaign, rounding up hundreds of its members in the West Bank. Hamas and other militants then unleashed rocket fire from Gaza.
On July 8, Israel launched an air campaign on the coastal territory, sending in ground troops nine days later to target rocket launchers and cross-border tunnels built by Hamas for attacks inside Israel.
Gaza’s civilians, especially children, have paid a steep price.
Of 1,911 people killed, the vast majority were civilians, with at least 450 who were children, according to Palestinian health officials. Children also made up almost one-third of close to 10,000 wounded. More than 10,000 homes have been destroyed, leaving about 65,000 people homeless, according to U.N. estimates. Tens of thousands fled fighting in the border areas, including heavy Israeli tank shelling, and are staying in crowded U.N. shelters.
On Saturday, Israeli aircraft struck about 50 targets, the army said.
Gaza officials said seven people were killed in strikes on homes, mosques and factories.
Three bodies were found under the ruins of the al-Qassam mosque in Gaza, including that of senior Hamas official Moaaz Zaid, said Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra. Two people were killed and three wounded in a strike on a car in the southern town of Rafah.
