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Last update - 10:44 14/01/2009
Egypt tells Hamas it must commit to one year cease-fire in Gaza
By Avi Issacharoff and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Israel News, Gaza, Hamas 

Egypt continued on Tuesday to urge Hamas to accept its cease-fire proposal for the Gaza Strip. Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman told Hamas representatives to the talks in Cairo that the organization would have to commit to a one-year cease-fire. Hamas officials told the Egyptians that it would be willing to accept the proposal if the changes demanded by the organization are made.



Spain's Foreign Minister, Miguel Moratinos, met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday. He told her that the Egyptian proposal calls for renewing the cease-fire at the end of one year. Moratinos said that Suleiman and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told him on Monday that the cease-fire "is a matter of a few days." He added that neither side wants the fighting to continue after United States President-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20.

Moratinos noted that Syria's President Bashar Assad has expressed willingness to aid Egypt in its talks with Hamas, and to use his influence with Hamas political bureau head Khaled Meshal, who is based in Damascus, to accept Cairo's proposal.

London's Al Hayat newspaper reported on Tuesday that Hamas officials in Gaza said their organization would be open to the deployment of Turkish forces in the Strip, citing their trust in a fellow Muslim state. That report was not confirmed by other sources.

Al Arabiya television reported that Hamas officials at the Cairo talks asked for clarifications regarding the timing of the Israel Defense Forces withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, as well as the reopening of border crossings into Israel, as specified in the Egyptian proposal.

Egypt's proposal calls for an immediate and indefinite cease-fire, with Israeli troop withdrawals and the border crossing reopenings to be subsequently determined in negotiations. These two stages are to be followed by the renewal of talks between Hamas and Fatah toward Palestinian national reconciliation.

Maher Taher, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine official representing the Palestinian organizations in Syria at the Cairo talks, utterly rejected the Egyptian initiative, which he said calls for a cease-fire of 10 to 15 years, the deployment of international forces in Gaza, and the suspension of weapons manufacturing and all smuggling into Gaza.

The Cairo talks are expected to continue despite the fact that the Israeli representative, Amos Gilad, postponed his attendance there once again.

Egyptian sources told Haaretz on Tuesday that Hamas is under Syrian and Iranian pressure not to accept the Egyptian proposal. "We want a cease-fire," one Egyptian official said. "Afterward everything else can be put on the table - the Israeli withdrawal, an end to the rocket attacks and the smuggling."

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      1.   Ceasefire first, war tribunal later 01:33  |  Fred 14/01/09
      2.   Israel`s goal 01:36  |  Kamera 14/01/09
      3.   Hamas in no position to negotiate 01:39  |  Bronson 14/01/09
      4.   puppet strings 01:42  |  KT 14/01/09
      5.   NO! 01:46  |  Ari 14/01/09
      6.   Turkey a muslim state ? 01:54  |  François 14/01/09
      7.   cease fire 01:54  |  kenny 14/01/09
      8.   Ceasefire 01:55  |  tim 14/01/09
      9.   Egypts blood stained hands 02:02  |  JV 14/01/09
      10.   one year cease-fire 02:11  |  Akiva P 14/01/09
      11.   One Year - Gotta be kidding 02:12  |  Moshe 14/01/09
      12.   Cease-fire. 02:20  |  sandra chitayat 14/01/09
      13.   Hamas only takes orders from Iran 02:31  |  Jon 14/01/09
      14.   Well, there`s your sticking point, right there.... 02:36  |  Johnboy 14/01/09
      15.   What to Expect 02:40  |  Andrew 14/01/09
      16.   yay, a whole year! 03:57  |  Jon 14/01/09
      17.   To 14: Israel won and gets to control is borders 03:57  |  Jordan 14/01/09
      18.   One year enough time for Hamas to rearm 03:59  |  Johann 14/01/09
      19.   Kamera 04:21  |  Edifice 14/01/09
      20.   When will we see a real solution? 05:34  |  Ali 14/01/09
      21.   Suicide bombings = breach of ceasefire 05:47  |  Robert 14/01/09
      22.   One year to re-arm and rebuild the tunnels, right? 06:25  |  Nechama 14/01/09
      23.   Ceasefire 07:26  |  Fredy Ross 14/01/09
      24.   Only an unconditional surrender should be acceptable! 07:26  |  redbourn 14/01/09
      25.   A narrow trench... 07:29  |  Jasper 14/01/09
      26.   Johnboy`s "subsequent determination" 07:36  |  SDHD 14/01/09
      27.   #17 Israel has "won", has it, Jordan? 07:55  |  Johnboy 14/01/09
      28.   Enough of ridiculous ceasfire`s 08:07  |  Allon 14/01/09
      29.   re: ali #20 08:07  |  isaac 14/01/09
      30.   Egypt ,the tunnels, Syria and Iran. 09:00  |  Stephen. 14/01/09
      31.   Destroy Hamas 09:01  |  MARK KLEIN, M.D. 14/01/09
      32.   Only one solution 09:52  |  Hastaroth 14/01/09
      33.   2000 die in Zimbabwe 09:56  |  where are the UN 14/01/09
      34.   Egypt justifies Hamas being a victim.. 10:09  |  Galvin Templar. 14/01/09
      35.   Withdrawal and special-op mementoes 12:14  |  allang 14/01/09
      36.   Opening Israeli-Gaza borders to Palestinians 17:35  |  Lily Stern 07/02/09
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