An Israeli official said negotiations are underway to obtain a ceasefire and that the recent clash with Palestinian Islamic Jihad could be over “tonight,” Ynet reported on Wednesday.
The official also warned that “everything is happening at once…this could end tonight, or tomorrow but can also slide into further escalations.”Ziyad Rushdi al-Nakhalah, Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is expected to land in Cairo to meet with the Egyptian Intelligence to discuss the terms of a ceasefire with Israel.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov who is also in Cairo claimed that he has been working with the Egyptians to bring the situation under control.Over 360 rockets were fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad [PIJ] at Israel from the Gaza Strip since IDF forces eliminated PIJ leader Bahaa Abu al-Ata on Tuesday morning in a targeted strike that killed al-Ata and his wife.
At the time of this writing 32 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of whom were terrorists.
Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, David Schenker said that "the Islamic Jihad has nothing to lose, so it is hard to negotiate or have a mediation. They just lost their senior official, that is very hard to stomach."
"There are a lot of missiles that have fallen on Israel in the last day and a half. I hope they can come to a resolution soon on some type of deescalation," he said.
Schenker, who is currently in Israel, said Hamas's absence from the fighting was positive. "It suggests that Hamas does not want to fight with Israel right now, nor does Israel want to fight with Hamas right now. That is positive."