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Gaza Talks in Cairo: Cease-Fire May Be All that Israel and Hamas Can Agree On

(Christian Science Monitor) Howard LaFranchi - As Israel and Hamas sit down at indirect negotiations in Egypt aimed at delivering a lasting cease-fire, both sides are out to get an agreement that is different from past accords. But neither side is ready to accept the other's chief demands. Israel is determined to secure an agreement that rules out any possibility of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad rearming themselves, with guarantees of tight controls on what enters Gaza. Nathan Brown at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says Hamas will resist disarming unless forced to do so. Moreover, ending the blockade and opening up Gaza "is very unlikely to happen except perhaps in a very limited way." One proposal calls for assigning the Palestinian Authority, which is governing the West Bank, the task of monitoring any opened crossings into Gaza. Eric Trager at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy says, "Sure, the U.S. would like to see the PA restored in Gaza, but the question is one of capability....Nothing suggests they have the experience and expertise to undertake this kind of [border] monitoring." Trager adds that, judging by what some Hamas officials have said since the cease-fire took hold Tuesday, "This, for Hamas, is not in any way the last war." At the Security Council in New York Wednesday, the deputy permanent representative for the U.S., Rosemary DiCarlo, said the U.S. wants to see an accord that resolves "the crisis in Gaza in a lasting and meaningful way" by "permanently" dismantling tunnels and ending rocket fire into Israel, while allowing Gaza to "receive the goods necessary to advance its economic development."
2014-08-08 00:00:00
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