Jerusalem – Israel Says Cease-Fire Possible Only If It Ensures Long-term Quiet, Hamas Calls It Nothing But Rumors

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    Israeli Minister of Defense, Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon showing Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon (L) visiting officers and men of the Paratroopers Brigade and Givati ??Brigade, at an undisclosed location in Israel on 12 July 2014.  EPAJerusalem – Israel is not ruling out a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip if it results in a significant change in the situation inside Gaza and a restoration of quiet to the South, diplomatic officials said Saturday night.

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    The officials’ comments came as the UN Security Council issued a statement calling for a cease-fire, and as the foreign ministers of the US, France, Germany and Britain were set to discuss the situation at a meeting in Vienna on Sunday, on the sidelines of their talks with Iran.

    Israeli officials were not speaking of the conditions they would demand for a cease-fire, but among the ideas that have been discussed are the dismantling of the rocket capabilities inside Gaza, similar to the manner in which the chemical weapons were dismantled in Syria; developing a mechanism to enforce the cease-fire; and a restoration of Palestinian Authority – not Hamas – control over the area.

    Diplomatic officials said Israel was in contact with third parties about the possibilities but would not provide concrete details. Turkey and Qatar have reportedly also put cease-fire proposals on the table, but these have been rejected by Israel.

    “The goals of Operation Protective Edge remain restoring quiet to Israel for a long period of time while delivering a significant blow to Hamas and the terrorist organizations in Gaza… whether through military means or diplomatic ones,” one official said.

    “Israel will weigh any proposal that will bring about an achievement of those goals,” the official continued. “If Hamas will continue to fire on Israeli citizens, the IDF will increase the power of its blows against Hamas and terrorist organizations in Gaza.”

    The officials said Israel was not responding to any particular cease-fire that has been proposed.
    A Palestinian reacts in front of a fire which police said was caused by an Israeli tank shelling in the industrial area in the east of Gaza City July 12, 2014. I
    Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials on Saturday denied reports of an imminent cease-fire with Israel and vowed to continue their attacks on Israel.

    Ziad al-Nakhleh, deputy head of Islamic Jihad, said talk about a cease-fire was nothing but rumors.

    “All what is being said about a truce is incorrect,” Nakhleh said. “So far there is no serious talk about a cease-fire.”

    He called talk about a cease-fire “premature,” adding that the previous 2012 truce between Hamas and Israel had been “behind our backs.”

    Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said his movement would continue to target Israel as long as the IDF military operation continued.

    He also criticized Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for saying over the weekend in an interview with the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen TV station in Lebanon that Hamas’s conditions for a cease-fire were “unnecessary.”

    In the interview Abbas indirectly condemned Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip for “trading in blood.”

    Barhoum said Abbas saw himself as a “third party” in the current crisis.

    “Abbas has destroyed the reconciliation agreement with Hamas from day one,” he charged. “Abbas has failed to assume his responsibility as president.”

    Abbas, meanwhile, continued to talk to world leaders about the need for a ceasefire.

    On Saturday he received a phone call from UK Foreign Secretary William Hague. He also talked to Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby about the situation.

    Arab League foreign ministers are scheduled to hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Monday at the request of the PA leadership to discuss the latest developments in the region, PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki announced.

    A Palestinian woman reacts after what police said was an Israeli air strike that destroyed a neighbouring house in the northern Gaza Strip July 12, 2014.


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    4 Comments
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    9 years ago

    Get ready, Bibi is about to cave to world pressure and agree to a ceasefire before getting the job done.

    HankM
    HankM
    9 years ago

    Unbelievable, here we go again. The y”sh are down, so they extend an olive branch and rearm. Disgusting. Israel needs a real leader. Bibi is all talk, no different from his American counterpart