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Last update - 19:37 19/03/2008
Egypt brokering Hamas-Israel deal on long-term Gaza truce
By Amos Harel, Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Israel, Hamas, cease fire 

Israel and Egypt are conducting intensive negotiations in an effort to reach a long-term cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which would include reopening the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's political-security bureau, visited Cairo on Tuesday for the second time in a week to meet with senior Egyptian officials, who are mediating between Israel and Hamas on this issue. Among others, Gilad apparently met with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has been postponing a planned visit to Israel for the past three weeks. It could be that he will come only after a deal is finalized.

In exchange for a cease-fire, Hamas is demanding that the economic siege of Gaza be lifted. Israel apparently opposes a full lifting of the siege, but might agree to a partial reopening of the Rafah crossing. Reopening Rafah - something the United States has been urging Israel to agree to, at Egypt's behest - would mean bringing back the European monitors who abandoned it when Hamas seized control of the Strip last summer.
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Among the issues to be negotiated are who would be allowed to pass through Rafah and whether the monitors would have the right to conduct searches and confiscate large sums of money. In the past, Hamas officials have routinely returned from trips abroad with suitcases full of cash.

Hamas is demanding that its own people be present at the crossing, but would apparently settle for a low-profile presence, with primary responsibility for the border being given to the security services subordinate to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Defense sources said that Israel has presented relatively hardline positions at the talks with Egypt, and that Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave Gilad very little negotiating leeway. Israel's estimate is that Hamas is currently interested in a relatively long-term cease-fire, because it is still recovering from the heavy fighting earlier this month, in which dozens of its people were killed and its store of rockets depleted.

Meanwhile, senior American officials recently told their Israeli counterparts that Israel must do everything in its power to ensure that its relationship with Egypt is not undermined by the fighting in Gaza and the ongoing arms smuggling across the Gaza-Egypt border, which Israel has accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop.

During a recent visit to Cairo and Jerusalem, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State David Welch told Gilad that the Egyptians are "more willing than ever before to find a joint solution to their problem with Israel," and therefore, "Israel must accelerate the dialogue with them, in order to end the crisis."

In addition to urging Israel to reopen Rafah, the U.S. is also urging it to accede to another Egypt demand ¬ to station more military personnel (as opposed to regular policemen) along its border with Gaza. Egypt claims this is necessary in order to combat the smuggling, but Israel objects, because it would violate the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.

Also Tuesday, the Egyptian Broadcasting Authority's Web site published part of a speech that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will deliver in honor of the Prophet Mohammed's birthday Wednesday, in which he publicly urged Israel to advance the peace process.

"Your people's security will not be achieved through collective punishment, attacks, incursion, siege, roadblocks and settlement construction," the speech read. "What will achieve it is a just and swift agreement."

Palestinians fired two Qassam rockets and several mortar shells from Gaza at southern Israel Tuesday. The Islamic Jihad has been at the center of most of the intermittent fighting of the past two weeks. Hamas has recently refrained from shooting at Israel, while the Israel Defense Forces have been ordered not to conduct strikes against Hamas.

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  • Egyptian president warns Israel: No occupation lasts forever
  • Hamas ready to accept Yemeni initiative for reconciliation with Fatah
  • Hamas: Cease-fire deal must include West Bank
  • Defense Min.: Fighting in southern Israel, Gaza may soon resume
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      1.   NO Hamas-Israel Gaza Strip Deal!!!!!!!Gaza must be returned to... 02:55  |  MOE 19/03/08
      2.   Will Hamas agree to a cease fire which excludes the West Bank? 02:58  |  Tosefta 19/03/08
      3.   Rafah as the Iranian Weapons` Fair. 03:17  |  Fortuna Benmayor 19/03/08
      4.   Ask yourself the question: Will the US agree Long-term cease-fire 03:23  |  Akram Zekaria 19/03/08
      5.   Why should they - Tosefta 03:40  |  Mark Lincoln 19/03/08
      6.   Talk to Hamas! 03:42  |  Northern 19/03/08
      7.   No Deal 03:43  |  ms 19/03/08
      8.   TO Arabs in Gaza 04:02  |  Egypt 19/03/08
      9.   Reality and its discontents (Mark Lincoln #3) 04:05  |  Tosefta 19/03/08
      10.   GAZA..Concentration Camp..Thank you Egypt.. 04:10  |  Ali 19/03/08
      11.   TO Mr. Mubarak - Not good enough 04:27  |  USA 19/03/08
      12.   Hamas is getting stronger every day 04:34  |  Bobby 19/03/08
      13.   But Hamas doesn`t want peace... 04:35  |  Jon 19/03/08
      14.   Tosefta and Mark Lincoln- you answer your own questions 04:42  |  Jon 19/03/08
      15.   We should be allowed to be racist, grab your land and have peace 05:12  |  Moshe 19/03/08
      16.   Jan - and why do you think? 05:13  |  Mark Lincoln 19/03/08
      17.   5# Mark Lincoln "Why shoud they"..(?) 05:13  |  Akram Zekaria. 19/03/08
      18.   Gaza should declare independence as a state! 05:14  |  Abu Talib 19/03/08
      19.   HAMAS NO WERE TO GO 05:41  |  OVER 19/03/08
      20.   Hamas 06:05  |  Gregor 19/03/08
      21.   Hamas has been scared into submission for now 06:18  |  Voice of Reason 19/03/08
      22.   #5, "why should they?" 06:23  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 19/03/08
      23.   Typical of pals - no offering of peace 06:26  |  Adrian de Klerk 19/03/08
      24.   No cease fires until Jew hate ceases! 06:56  |  Jeff 19/03/08
      25.   Egypt cannot be trusted. 07:13  |  Jean Van Daem 19/03/08
      26.   Hamas has long had this deal on the table 07:49  |  Natallie Durson 19/03/08
      27.   Moe 08:20  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/03/08
      28.   Ali the joker 08:24  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/03/08
      29.   Jon about Tosefta & ML 08:28  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/03/08
      30.   Without COMPLETE VICTORY, there is no survival!!! 08:59  |  Ben Uziel 19/03/08
      31.   Utter Rubbish! just passing time...... 09:51  |  Dagma 19/03/08
      32.   #20 Nutullie does not know what an enforceable deal is ! 10:27  |  v hardman 19/03/08
      33.   RECIPROCAL RESPECT OF THE ADVERSARY`S DIGNITY 10:38  |  Mohamed Malleck 19/03/08
      34.   End this conflict once and for all 10:41  |  Arab 48 19/03/08
      35.   Hamas-Israel 10:57  |  Ralph 19/03/08
      36.   KILLING MACHINES READY TO ACT 10:58  |  indrajaya 19/03/08
      37.   Arab 48: if only..... 11:28  |  The Judge 19/03/08
      38.   Cipora Julianna Kohn #22 11:50  |  TonyL 19/03/08
      39.   A child`s view of Hamas 12:09  |  Proud Israeli 19/03/08
      40.   Arab 48 12:15  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/03/08
      41.   Hi Margie of Tel Aviv... 12:27  |  Ali 19/03/08
      42.   Margie...Who helped Establish Hamas.. 12:36  |  Ali 19/03/08
      43.   Cease fire 12:44  |  Hilda 19/03/08
      44.   # 32 v limpwick 12:51  |  Natallie Durson 19/03/08
      45.   Matter of time before the quisling collaborators are removed! 13:12  |  lakshmi 19/03/08
      46.   Israel Does Not Negotiate. It Demands 13:22  |  Yaakov Sullivan 19/03/08
      47.   #44 nutullie needs a language course 13:26  |  v hardman 19/03/08
      48.   #22 Remember the initial premise, Cipora 13:26  |  Johnboy 19/03/08
      49.   NO HUDNA UNTILL 13:32  |  QOFARAS 19/03/08
      50.   Thank you Ali for theTRUTH. 13:42  |  Jeff 19/03/08
      51.   Hey..Jeff..YOU forget one thing.. 14:05  |  Ali 19/03/08
      52.   Sure, Ali, Israel is to blame for the tsunamis too 14:26  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/03/08
      53.   Give Egypt the chance to broker a deal. 14:32  |  Stephen. 19/03/08
      54.   My people will call your people 16:30  |  B 19/03/08
      55.   The power of denial (Margie in Twilight Zone #29) 16:37  |  Tosefta 19/03/08
      56.   Olmert keeps up his wishful-thinking 17:08  |  Tosefta 19/03/08
      57.   renaming the united states? 17:14  |  montgomery rosen 19/03/08
      58.   Tosefta would consider following his advice thinking for oneself. 17:21  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 19/03/08
      59.   Ali from Villanova PA 19:11  |  David Israel 19/03/08
      60.   Margie of the Twilight Zone #58 19:19  |  Tosefta 19/03/08
      61.   abu talib # 18 the gazans are too fu88ing stupid,all they are 21:15  |  terrornator 19/03/08
      62.   ali,gaza has always been a hell hole and always will be! 21:22  |  terrornator 19/03/08
      63.   montgomery rosen #57 the entire world has paid the arabs/pals 21:28  |  terrornator 19/03/08
      64.   #45 Lakshmi, Re: the quisling collaborators 23:32  |  Dutch 19/03/08
      65.   More craziness from laksidiot 00:19  |  ub40 20/03/08
      66.   62 Terrornator , a mouthpiece for Israeli propaganda 00:25  |  Dutch 20/03/08
      67.   Tosefta: self portrait? 00:55  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 20/03/08
      68.   Open crossing?? Olmert, do Jewish lives mean anything to you????? 01:00  |  Chris 20/03/08
      69.   Hamas Admits to Using Children and Women As Human Shields. 01:38  |  Douglas Fireman 20/03/08
      70.   ISRAEL DOESNT NEED EGYPT. THEY NEED THEIR LAND BACK 02:58  |  PalestniansAreA Myth