|
 Israeli negotiators returned to Egypt after overnighting in
Israel, with the truce in the month-old hostilities that have killed
1,945 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 67 on the Israeli side due
to expire at 2100 GMT (5 p.m. EDT).
Hamas, which dominates Gaza, and its allies seek a lifting of
Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the coastal enclave. Israel and
Egypt harbor deep security concerns about the Islamist group,
complicating any deal on easing border restrictions.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were tightlipped on Wednesday on
whether any agreement on a long-term end to hostilities was near. A
Palestinian embassy source said the talks were continuing and
Palestinian delegates would hold more meetings with Egyptian
mediators.
The two sides are not meeting face-to-face. Israel regards Hamas,
which has advocated its destruction, as a terrorist organization
that cannot be a direct negotiating partner.
On Tuesday, Moussa Abu Marzouk, Hamas's leader in Cairo, described
the negotiations as "difficult". An Israeli official, who declined
to be identified, said no progress had been made.
Hamas also wants the opening of a seaport for Gaza, a project Israel
says should be dealt with only in any future talks on a permanent
peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Israel has resisted removing the economically stifling blockade on
Gaza and suspects Hamas will restock with weapons from abroad if
access to the coastal territory is relaxed. Neighboring Egypt also
treats Hamas as a security threat.
Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, speaking on Tuesday, told Israel's
armed forces to prepare for a possible resumption of fighting. A
previous 72-hour ceasefire last week expired without a longer-term
deal and Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes resumed,
although at lower intensity.
"It could be that shooting will erupt again and we will again be
firing at them," Yaalon said.
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Since Israel launched its military campaign on July 8 to quell
cross-border rocket fire from Gaza into the Jewish state, most of
the Palestinian dead have been civilians, hospital officials in the
small, densely populated enclave say.
Israel has lost 64 soldiers and three civilians. Many of the
Palestinian rocket salvoes have been intercepted by the Iron Dome
anti-missile system or fallen on open ground, but have disrupted
life for tens of thousands of Israelis.
The heavy losses among civilians and the destruction of thousands of
homes in Gaza, where the United Nations said 425,000 of 1.8 million
population have been displaced by the war, have stoked international
alarm.
Israel pulled ground forces out of Gaza last week after it said the
army had completed its main mission of destroying more than 30
tunnels dug by militants for cross-border ambushes. It now wants
guarantees Hamas will not use any reconstruction supplies sent into
the enclave to rebuild the tunnels.
A Palestinian official said the Palestinian delegation had agreed
that reconstruction in Gaza should be carried out by a unity
government of technocrats set up in June by Hamas and the more
secular Fatah party of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas, who governs in areas of the West Bank not occupied by Israel.
(Writing by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by Luke Baker and
Mark Heinrich)
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