CAIRO: Israel joined a new round of Egyptian-brokered negotiations on a proposed truce in and around Gaza on Thursday after deciding to give the talks one last go while preparing for military action if they fail.
Amos Gilad, a top aide of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, arrived in Cairo for a meeting with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, who has been mediating between Israel and Palestinian groups, officials said.
“Egyptian officials will hear from Mr Gilad the Israeli position on bringing about the period of calm, an Egyptian source told the official MENA news agency.
He “expressed hope that the truce between Israel and the Palestinians would come soon in order to lift the blockade imposed on the Palestinian people, MENA said.
In Israel, Barak told reporters his country “must assess the possibilities of reaching a calm but that “our duty is to ensure security around the Gaza Strip and we shall do so.
“Our military is strong and we are ready. As soon as the order is given, we will act, he added, stressing that Israel must first “try to reach the same results without turning to the armed forces.
Hamas, which seized power in Gaza one year ago, has ridiculed Israel for claiming it wants a truce while at the same time gearing up for a military offensive.
The Maariv daily said that following its meeting on Wednesday, Israel’s security cabinet gave truce efforts another two weeks.
If Palestinian militants do not stop firing rockets and mortar rounds at southern Israel within that timeframe, the military will be given the green light to launch a ground operation deep inside the Gaza Strip, the paper said.
But if militants do hold their fire, Israel will then ease the blockade it imposed after the June 15, 2007 Hamas takeover, when the Islamists ousted forces loyal to secular Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel would then allow more humanitarian equipment and supply trucks to enter Gaza, army radio said.
The authorities would also allow the reopening of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, Gaza’s only one that bypasses Israel, but only if a captured Israeli soldier is released, the radio said.
Officials made Israel’s agreement to a truce conditional on progress in efforts to free Corporal Gilad Shalit, 21, who was seized by Hamas in a cross-border raid two years ago.
Hamas has in the past insisted that talks on a prisoner exchange for Shalit should be separate from the truce negotiations.
Israeli military intelligence fears Hamas may step up its attacks until a ceasefire takes effect, in a bid to show it is entering the agreement from a position of strength, Maariv said.
For months, Egypt has tried to get both sides to hold their fire, but the bloodshed has continued in and around the impoverished and densely populated Gaza Strip.
On Thursday, a gunman was killed in a clash with Israeli forces in northern Gaza – the eighth Palestinian killed in Gaza so far this week.
At least 500 people, nearly all Palestinians and the majority of them Gaza fighters, have now been killed since peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership resumed in November, according to an AFP count. -AFP
