CAIRO: A series of mediation efforts took place in Cairo Thursday as Hamas and Israel officials met with Egyptian mediators predicting progress for at least a temporary ceasefire in the next few days.
Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad was in Cairo Thursday to discuss the results of talks between Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman and Hamas officials and present what was described as the “end game scenario for the Israeli offensive on Gaza.
It was believed that Gilad would be presented with an outline for a temporary 10-day ceasefire that Egypt and Hamas have come up with.
Then talks would be launched for a more permanent truce.
Although initial reports indicated that Israel had responded favorably to the ceasefire proposal, this was almost immediately denied.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told AFP Thursday, “We’re talking to Egypt. Tonight Amos Gilad will return, he will make a report and we will decide then.
By all accounts, it seems that further meetings will be necessary for even an interim ceasefire to take effect.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters Wednesday, “We will tell the Israelis what we have obtained from our brothers in Hamas. There are Hamas positions that we will discuss with the Israelis in the context of all the elements of President Mubarak’s initiative. We hope that things will move forward but we will not talk about details.
Hamas official Salah Bardawil told reporters in Cairo, “We hope that this Egyptian effort will succeed.
“President [Hosni] Mubarak’s vision is the only one that was proposed, we don’t ask for any amendment to its broad outlines, he added although he did not explicitly state that Hamas had accepted the agreement.
Hamas representatives met with Suleiman on Wednesday where they presented their “vision of the ceasefire. Both sides seem clear in their demands. Hamas wants an immediate Israeli withdrawal and the end of the 18-month blockade on the territory and the reopening of crossings.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told the BBC, “We’re working with Hamas, and we’re working with the Israeli side. We hope to reach an outcome soon.
Israel on its part wants an end to Hamas rocket fire on Southern Israel and a guarantee from both Egypt and Hamas that the tunnels permeating the Egypt-Gaza border will be destroyed.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told AP that “There is momentum in these discussions. We are hopeful that a deal will be based on a total cessation of Hamas fire into Israel and an arms embargo to prevent Hamas from rearming is close and attainable.
Gilad was in Cairo to discuss the “parameters of the end game, Regev added.
Another Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told the BBC, “I am optimistic now because I think there is no other choice for us. . . . This kind of agreement can be done now, and I think now there is good progress in Egypt. We hope that now Egypt will contact Israel and talk about all issues.
However, Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official in Beirut, told Al Jazeera, “We do not agree with the initiative as it stands.
