WarSclerotic

Hamas: This will be last truce; Israel: No progress in talks
Mati Tuchfeld, Yoav Limor, Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters August 12, 2014

(If this is the last, then what?-LS)

Israeli official says gaps between Israel’s and Hamas’ positions are big • Palestinian delegation consents to Palestinian unity government of technocrats overseeing reconstruction in Gaza, official says • Israeli cabinet meeting on truce talks canceled.

Talks to end a month-long war between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip have made no progress so far, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, as a 72-hour cease-fire in the Palestinian coastal enclave held for a second day.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were expected to reconvene later Tuesday in Cairo where Hamas and its allies are seeking an end to an Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza.

“The gaps between the sides are big and there is no progress in the negotiations,” said an Israeli official who declined to be named.

Meanwhile, Hamas deputy political bureau chief Moussa Abu Marzouk told the Palestinian news agency Maan that “we are facing difficult negotiations, the first truce passed without any notable achievement, and this is the second and last truce. Its gravity now is clear. The delegation must achieve the people’s wishes.”

Hamas also seeks a seaport for Gaza, a project Israel says should be dealt with only under the framework of future talks on a permanent peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Israel has resisted lifting its blockade on Gaza out of fear that Hamas would restock with weapons from abroad if access to Gaza was eased. Neighboring Egypt also sees Hamas as a security threat.

Israel pulled ground forces out of Gaza last week after it said the IDF had completed its main mission of destroying more than 30 tunnels dug by terrorists for cross-border attacks. Israel now wants guarantees Hamas will not use any reconstruction supplies sent into Gaza to rebuild those tunnels.

A Palestinian official said Tuesday that the Palestinian delegation had consented that reconstruction in Gaza should be carried out by the unity government of technocrats set up in June by Hamas and the more secular Fatah party of Western-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank.

Israeli representatives are not meeting face-to-face with the Palestinian delegation because it includes Hamas, which Israel regards as a terrorist organization. Hamas for its part is sworn to Israel’s destruction.

Israel’s cabinet was scheduled to convene on Tuesday to discuss the details of the potential cease-fire agreement, but the meeting was canceled in the morning.

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