WarSclerotic

Egypt’s efforts to broker a long-term cease-fire ‎between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have come ‎to a grinding halt, Arab media reported Tuesday.‎

Cairo has been trying to mediate a truce between ‎Israel and the terrorist group that controls the ‎coastal enclave for the past several weeks, in an effort to ‎prevent the recent flare-up in hostilities – the ‎worst in four years – from escalating into a full-fledged war. ‎

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars over the ‎past decade, in 2008, 2012 and 2014.‎

Egyptian intelligence officials were able to broker ‎a truce between the parties some two weeks ago, ‎after a round of violence that saw Hamas terrorists ‎fire nearly 200 rockets at Israel’s south and the ‎Israeli military pound Hamas assets in Gaza in response.‎

While the tenuous cease-fire seems to be holding, ‎officials on both sides expressed concern that with ‎the long-term truce overtures deadlocked, the most ‎recent lull will collapse as well.‎

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has ‎reportedly informed Palestinian Authority President ‎Mahmoud Abbas that the negotiations for a deal in ‎Gaza have stalled. ‎

The Palestinian leader recently admitted Ramallah ‎was actively trying to torpedo these efforts, which ‎also sought to outline an agreement that would pave ‎the way for Gaza’s reconstruction and an eventual ‎prisoner swap.‎

Abbas has repeatedly said that Gaza’s rulers have no ‎authority to hold any kind of talks, direct or ‎indirect, with Israel. ‎

Hamas, designated as a terrorist group by the EU, ‎‎U.S., Israel and several other countries, ousted ‎Abbas’ Fatah-led government from ‎the ‎Gaza Strip in a ‎military coup in 2007. ‎All efforts made over the past ‎‎decade to ‎‎promote a ‎reconciliation between the rival ‎‎Palestinian ‎factions – the latest ‎‎brokered by Egypt ‎‎in late 2017 ‎‎– have failed. ‎

A senior Ramallah source told Israel Hayom that the ‎Egyptians were “greatly disappointed” in Abbas over ‎his efforts to undermine any attempt to reach ‎reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, which would ‎be the basis for any agreement in Gaza. ‎

Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar told Palestinian ‎media Tuesday that no progress has been made on ‎reaching an agreement with Israel.‎

‎”The efforts to reach an agreement have stopped. ‎Israel is not working to break the siege unless it ‎is under pressure,” he said, referring to the ‎maritime blockade Israel imposed on Gaza following ‎Hamas’ coup to prevent the Islamist terrorist group ‎from smuggling weapons into the Strip.‎

“Unfortunately, senior Palestinian Authority ‎officials have consulted with senior Israeli ‎security officials in order to thwart the ‎reconciliation efforts,” he noted, referring to ‎Abbas’ recent admission that he has met with Shin ‎Bet security agency Director Nadav Argaman multiple ‎times. ‎

Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told local media that ‎Gaza’s rulers “had little choice” but to agree to ‎engage in the indirect negotiations, as the ‎Palestinian Authority’s sanctions on Gaza made the ‎humanitarian crisis there worse. ‎

He blamed the Palestinian Authority for the deadlock ‎in the talks, noting that “in the absence of any ‎alternative, the most effective solution to exert ‎pressure on the Zionist occupation is the ‎processions along the border.”‎

Hamad ‎was referring to the border riot campaign ‎Hamas ‎launched on March 30. The weekly riots have ‎seen thousands of Palestinians clash with Israeli ‎security forces. Some 150 Palestinians have been ‎killed in the four-month campaign.‎

Also on Tuesday, U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay ‎‎Mladenov said only a true change in the humanitarian ‎‎situation ‎in Gaza can support a long-term cease-fire.‎

Speaking at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya’s ‎‎‎18th World Summit on Counterterrorism, Mladenov ‎said, “We have to work hard to maintain quiet [on ‎the border]. There needs to be a real change for the ‎Gazans in the economic and humanitarian fields, and ‎the residents of the [Israeli] communities near Gaza ‎must see a complete end to kite terrorism. ‎

‎”Without this quiet, the Egyptian effort to reinstate ‎the Palestinian Authority in Gaza will fail,” he ‎said.