For the first time since the current round of violence with the Gaza Strip began
on Wednesday, there were signs on Saturday that Hamas was willing to accept a
cease-fire with Israel.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who is in Cairo,
held talks on Saturday with Mohamed Shehata, head of Egypt’s General
Intelligence Service, on the possibility of achieving a cease-fire, sources
close to Hamas said.
The sources said that the Hamas leadership has
received a number of proposals for a cease-fire from different international
parties, including EU countries.
Mashaal, according to the sources, set
his movement’s conditions for a cease-fire.
These include an Israeli
pledge to stop “all forms of aggression, including assassinations, and lifting
the blockade on the Gaza Strip.”
Mashaal also demanded international
“assurances” that Israel would abide by the terms of a cease-fire, the sources
added.
The talk about a new cease-fire came as the Palestinian Authority
Foreign Ministry in Ramallah announced that Arab League Secretary- General Nabil
Elarabi would visit the Gaza Strip soon to discuss ways of ending the
violence.
Elarabi will be accompanied by PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki,
as well as the foreign ministers of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and
Algeria.
Over the weekend, the Egyptian prime minister and the Tunisian
foreign minister separately visited the Strip to express solidarity with the
Palestinians against the IDF offensive.
Ramadan Shallah, leader of
Islamic Jihad organization, also arrived in Cairo over the weekend for talks
with Egyptian and Arab government officials on the possibility of reaching a
cease-fire with Israel.
An Islamic Jihad official said efforts were
underway to arrange a cease-fire between the Palestinian groups and Israel
“within the next 24 hours.”
|