President Mohamed Morsy has said the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip will end imminently. The president spoke during his sister’s funeral prayers in Sharqeya on Tuesday.
Addressing the mourners, Morsy extended his condolences to the families of the 52 children who died in the Assiut train crash. Morsy then stated that negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians were to be finalised within hours.
“The efforts to conclude a truce between the Palestinian and Israeli sides will produce positive results in the next few hours,” Morsy was quoted as saying, according to the Middle East News Agency (MENA).
Commenting on the statement, Saeid Okasha, an expert on Israeli affairs, said probably Morsy had reached an agreement with the Israelis about stopping the aggression. “I analyse this as meaning both sides have agreed to stop the attacks,” Okasha said.
He explained saying that there are two levels of truce at this stage. Morsy has done the first part by helping an agreement on stopping the aggression. “After a couple of days another round of negotiations is expected to take place to discuss the situation in Gaza,” the expert said.
Mohamed Goma’a, a political researcher at the Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, said Egyptians have to ask “who will to pay the price of this truce?”
The expert explained that if the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations did not guarantee the opening of borders between Gaza Strip and Israel, Gaza would then move forward further towards Egypt.
“If the truce only ensured the opening of the Rafah border, then we can see Israel’s plan being implemented,” Goma’a said.
Within the framework of Egypt’s intervention, Morsy has to be aware of the future of political relations between Gaza and the West Bank, said Goma’a.
Morsy did not mention the clashes that continue in the iconic Mohamed Mahmoud Street for the second day. On Monday evening, the official count for injuries reached 42.
Mahmoud Belal, a lawyer for Mohamed Mahmoud protesters, said Morsy is known for his “very slow” responses.
“He is absolutely unaware of what is happening in the Egyptian street,” Belal said, stressing that the support for Gaza is mandatory but clashes in Mohamed Mahmoud Street requires more attention.
“Morsy had earlier promised to hold the officials accountable on clashes that occurred one year ago and nothing has ever happened. Do we expect he will look into the clashes happening in the same street today?” the lawyer said. He added Mubarak was faster in taking actions than Morsy, who is currently overwhelmed with Gaza.
