Israel Approves Egyptian Plan for Cease-Fire with Hamas
Watch related video report by VOA's Zlatica Hoke.
July 15, 2014 12:40 AM
Israel approved an Egyptian-proposed deal that would halt the week-old Gaza shelling war on Tuesday but the Palestinian territory's dominant Hamas Islamists responded suspiciously, saying they had not been consulted by Cairo.
Hamas's armed wing vowed its attacks would “increase in ferocity and intensity” but Palestinian rocket salvoes waned ahead of the mooted start of mutual de-escalation at 0600 GMT.
Israel said there had been two cross-border launches overnight that caused no damage, and that it had bombed 25 sites in Gaza. Palestinian medical officials said a 63-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were killed, bringing the enclave's death toll to more than 182, most of them civilians.
At Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, the security cabinet convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it voted to approve the truce deal, minutes before it was to come into effect.
Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defense official and envoy to Cairo, cast the deal positively, saying Hamas had been weakened by the air and sea bombardment of impoverished Gaza.
“Look at the balance, and you see that Hamas tried every possible means of striking at Israel while bringing great and terrible damage on its people, from their perspective,” Gilad told Israel's Army Radio.
“The Egyptian proposal includes a halt to all kind of [military] activity,” he said. “What this proposal, if it is accepted, means is that, willy-nilly, Hamas did not manage to make good on its intentions.”
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said earlier on Tuesday that the Islamist group had not received an official ceasefire proposal, and he repeated its position that demands it has made must be met before it lays down its weapons.
Hamas's armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, rejected the reported text of the truce deal, saying: “Our battle with the enemy continues and will increase in ferocity and intensity.”
The proposal calls for a temporary cease-fire to go into effect Tuesday, followed by talks between the two sides in Cairo within two days.
President Barack Obama said late Monday at a dinner celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that he was encouraged by Egypt's proposal, and that "further escalation benefits no one."
"I will say very clearly no country can accept rockets fired indiscriminately at citizens. And so we have been very clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against what I consider to be inexcusable attacks from Hamas. At the same time, on top of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that we have worked long and hard to alleviate, the death and injury of Palestinian civilians is a tragedy, which is why we have emphasized the need to protect civilians regardless of who they are or where they live," said Obama.
The Israelis have suffered no fatalities from the recent rocket attacks, thanks in large part to a new rocket defense system that has intercepted dozens of incoming projectiles.
Egypt, the first Arab state to reach peace with Israel, often serves as a mediator between Israel and Hamas. In 2012 fighting between Israel and Hamas, Egypt's then-president Mohamed Morsi brokered a cease-fire.
On Monday, the Israeli military said it had shot down a drone aircraft that flew into Israel from Gaza. The Israelis said the drone that was shot down was flying over Ashdod, located about halfway between the Gaza Strip and Tel Aviv. VOA
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