Hamas says truce talks focus on guarantees

CAIRO, Nov 18, 2012 (AFP)

Senior Hamas officials said on Sunday that Egypt-mediated talks with Israel to end the Gaza conflict were “positive” but
now focused on the possible stumbling block of guaranteeing a ceasefire’s terms.

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an outcome acceptable to Hamas would be assurances by the United States, Israel’s main backer, to be the “guaranteeing party.”

“There are efforts to that end,” he told AFP. “If that is not the case, I don’t think there’s anyone who wants to gamble with his political reputation.”

Hamas, now in the fifth day of a conflict with Israel around Gaza, wants guarantees that “the aggression and assassinations would stop,” said another senior official.

At least 55 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed over the past five days.

The official said the talks, which he described as “positive,” were now focused on ensuring the terms of the truce.

The Islamist movement also demands that the siege Israel imposed on Gaza in 2007 after Hamas seized the territory be lifted — an unfulfilled condition when Hamas agreed a truce in January 2009 to end the last major conflict there.

The first official said the parties in the talks realised time was of the essence, as Israel mustered troops and armour outside Gaza amid threats that the air and naval bombardment would give way to a ground invasion.

“Extended talks could lead to a development on the ground that would foil all efforts,” he said.

In January 2009, Egypt helped mediate an end to a three-week war in Gaza with a truce that Hamas said would require Israel to lift its blockade.

Israel too had demanded Egyptian commitments to stop smugglers from sending weapons into Gaza, but arms continued to find their way into the enclave, according to Israel.

Hamas and Egyptian officials have accused Israel of violating a recent tacit ceasefire to end tit-for-tat air strikes and rocket fire when it assassinated Hamas’s military chief in Gaza on Wednesday, sparking the latest conflict.

Israel says it responded to continued Hamas rocket fire.