Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas are due to restart this morning in Cairo with Egypt as mediator. Hamas has already said that it rejects the current Egyptian proposal. This means that the talks are in effect back at their opening point. Yesterday evening an Israeli diplomatic source said that "Israel has not agreed to any proposal put forward thus far," and that it will agree to understandings reached by the mediator "only if they provide a clear answer to Israel's security concerns."
"The Israel delegation to Cairo is entirely made up of security people," the source said, "and the instruction they have received on their departure for Egypt is to stand firm on Israel's security needs."
Yesterday, the EU joined the call by the US to the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to disarm. The 28 EU foreign ministers further announced that the EU would be prepared to station a force at the Rafah crossing in order to assist in the preventing arms being smuggled to the terrorists.
In its statement, the EU Council said, "The situation in the Gaza Strip has been unsustainable for many years and a return to the status quo prior to the latest conflict is not an option. A durable ceasefire must lead to a fundamental improvement in the living conditions for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip through the lifting of the Gaza closure regime, and it must end the threat to Israel posed by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza as demonstrated by rocket attacks and tunnel construction. All terrorist groups in Gaza must disarm…The EU is ready to support a possible international mechanism endorsed by the UNSC, including through the reactivation and possible extension in scope and mandate of its EUBAM Rafah and EUPOL COPPS missions on the ground."
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement welcoming the EU foreign ministers' call for the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, saying, "Israel will continue to conduct a dialogue with the European Union on these important questions."
Meanwhile, the head of Hamas's political bureau Khaled Mashaal toughened the movement's stance, saying in an interview with Al-Jazeera, "We want to achieve our goals. We want the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip to feel that the siege had ended. We want the crossings to be opened and to have an airport and seaport, and the occupation to end."
Another senior Hamas figure, Osama Hamdan, who is responsible for its external relations, said, “Israel must accept our demands, or else it will have to face a long war.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 17, 2014
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