Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo to broker an end to the Gaza conflict have so far made no progress, a senior Israeli official said Tuesday.
“The gaps are still very wide,” he said. On Monday, a Palestinian official said the first day of talks had lasted nearly 10 hours. “The negotiations were serious,” he said, adding that the Israelis were insisting on the demilitarization of Hamas, but that the Palestinians had refused.
Meanwhile, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio that disarming Gaza militants was crucial to a long-term truce.
“I certainly hope that there will be a diplomatic solution. If there will not be a diplomatic solution, I am convinced that sooner or later we will have to opt for a military solution of taking temporary control of Gaza to demilitarize it again,” he said.
Another sticking point in the Cairo talks has been Israel’s demand for guarantees that Hamas would not use any reconstruction supplies sent to Gaza to build tunnels of the sort Palestinian fighters have used to infiltrate Israel.
{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}
Maybe lipa schmeltzer can help…
How random
Oh vei no one really wants a continuation of the war
Hamas wants:
– 100% of Israel’s land
– 100% of Israel’s Jews murdered (c”v)
Being that those are their irrevocable goals, any negotiation they enter is just a delaying tactic until they feel strong enough to once again attack.
The willful blindness of most of the world to Hamas’s very public goals makes one want to scream with frustration.