Tuesday, 26 August 2014

Gaza Conflict: Palestinians 'Agree Long-Term Truce With Israel'

A long-term ceasefire has been agreed between Israel and Palestinian
militants in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Egyptian officials say.

Egyptian state media reported that the truce, ending seven weeks of
fighting that has left more than 2,200 people dead, would begin at
19:00 (16:00 GMT).

Hamas deputy political leader Moussa Abu Marzouk said the deal
represented a "victory for the resistance".

There has so far been no comment from the Israeli government.

The apparent breakthrough came as both sides continued to trade fire.

A last-minute volley of mortar shells from Gaza killed an Israeli
civilian and wounded six others in Eshkol Regional Council, medics
told the BBC.

Earlier on Tuesday, at least six Palestinians were killed in a series
of Israeli air strikes in Gaza, Palestinian officials said.

Shuttle diplomacy

Palestinian officials said Egypt's ceasefire proposal called for an
indefinite end to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's
crossings with Israel and Egypt, and an extension of the territory's
Mediterranean fishing zone.

The ceasefire deal combines elements of possible agreements which have
been under discussion for weeks.

At the core of it will be an end to hostilities in return for an
easing of border restrictions on Gaza, which will allow in
humanitarian supplies and desperately-needed materials for
reconstruction.

Longer-term issues like the Hamas demand for an airport and a sea
terminal will be pushed back to later in the talks process, perhaps by
a month or so.

It is a formula that allows the violence to end without a full
resolution of all the issues which have divided Israel and the
Palestinian militants for many years.

Earlier ceasefires in this conflict have collapsed - the diplomatic
hope now is that a kind of mutual war-weariness will give this deal a
better chance of success.

One unnamed senior Palestinian official said the head of the
Palestinian negotiating team, Azzam al-Ahmed, had played a key role,
shuttling between Ramallah, Gaza and Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July with the stated
aim of ending rocket fire. It was later expanded to include the
destruction of tunnels used by militants for cross-border attacks.

At least 2,138 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in
Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Israeli authorities say 64 Israeli soldiers have been killed,
along with three Israeli civilians and a Thai national.

'Terrorist infrastructure'

Early on Tuesday, Israeli jets bombed two high-rise buildings in Gaza
City. The Basha Tower, containing flats and offices, was flattened and
the Italian Complex, with homes, shops and offices, was severely
damaged.

No-one was reported killed as residents managed to flee both buildings
after the Israeli military warned them to leave.

However, 20 people were injured in the attack on the Italian Complex,
and at least six others were killed in Israeli strikes elsewhere,
medics said.

Hamas, the militant Islamist movement that dominates Gaza, accused
Israel of an "unprecedented act of revenge" against civilians.

But Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner told the Associated
Press that the strikes were "a direct result of Hamas' decision to
situate their terrorist infrastructure within the civilian sphere,
including schools, hospitals and high-rise buildings".

In Israel, 20 people were lightly injured when a rocket fired by
militants in Gaza hit a residential area of the southern town of
Ashkelon, police said.

BBC

No comments:

Post a Comment