.US backs deal to reopen Gaza-Egypt border
The US agreed to provide technical and intelligence assistance on Egypt's border with Gaza yesterday to prevent weapons smuggling by Hamas as part of diplomatic moves to secure a ceasefire in Israel's three-week assault on the Palestinian enclave.
Israel said it believed the conflict was in the "final act" as talks in Washington and Cairo edged closer to a truce. But important differences remained and it was not clear if an agreement would be finalised this weekend to halt fighting that has cost more than 1,100 lives and destroyed much of Gaza's public infrastructure.
Israel's security cabinet is expected to consider an Egyptian ceasefire proposal this evening, including whether Israel should unilaterally call a truce or consider withdrawing its troops.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, signed the agreement for Washington to provide technical and intelligence co-operation, as well as logistical support, for monitors on the Egypt-Gaza border – a move designed to address one of the principal Israeli demands: that any truce with Hamas includes measures to stop it from rearming by smuggling weapons.
Israel said the agreement would commit the US and Nato to track and intercept weapons shipments to Gaza from Iran or anywhere else. Rice said it was designed to ensure Gaza would "never again be used as a launching pad against Israeli cities". The US was seeking "a sustainable end to hostilities, rather than one that collapses in a few days or weeks".
The deal could lead to the reopening of Gaza's border with Egypt, a key Hamas demand. The Islamist group also wants Gaza's crossings into Israel reopened after three years of economic blockade. This is crucial to reviving the territory's economy but Israel is reluctant to allow it.
Egyptian officials have held talks in Cairo separately with Hamas and Israeli negotiators in an effort to overcome the main sticking points, including how long a ceasefire would last. Hamas is prepared to commit to a year and then consider renewing it. Israel wants it to be indefinite.
Some senior Israeli officials were optimistic. "The conditions have not come to fruition yet," said a security cabinet member, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. "But this could well happen late on Saturday and we can put this story behind us." There were conflicting messages from Hamas. Its exiled political leader, Khaled Meshal, told Arab leaders in Qatar that his organisation would not accept Israeli conditions and would continue to fight until Israel ended its attack.
Whatever the agreement, both sides will want to claim victory. Israel will say that an end to the rocket fire and a halt to weapons smuggling is what it set out to achieve with its attack.
Hamas will say it was fighting to lift the blockade and that any agreement to end the rocket attacks was voluntary because Israel failed to stop them. Hundreds were fired despite the Israel's reoccupation of swaths of the Gaza Strip and heavy bombardment. The group fired at least 13 rockets into Israel yesterday alone.
Israel may have gone a long way towards achieving another objective: to damage Hamas's control in Gaza with the long-term goal of toppling it from power.
The group has proven to be militarily weaker than it had threatened, inflicting relatively few casualties. When the fighting ends , many Gazans may wonder whether the price exacted by Israel was worth the confrontation. The physical damage to the Gaza Strip is estimated at $1.4bn (£954m). Western donors, not Israel, are likely to pick up the reconstruction bill. An Israeli tank shell killed two children in Beit Lahiya yesterday; and air strikes killed three other Palestinians.
Guardian
It's all about money. Now we have to patrol the Gaza boarder?? Egypt cant patrol their own boarder. What a deal kill some civilians and get a prize. I just hope President Obama tells these people to go fuck themselves.
How in the world are we supposed to help. Next thing you know hamas will attack the boarder suck us into this fight
Israel said it believed the conflict was in the "final act" as talks in Washington and Cairo edged closer to a truce. But important differences remained and it was not clear if an agreement would be finalised this weekend to halt fighting that has cost more than 1,100 lives and destroyed much of Gaza's public infrastructure.
Israel's security cabinet is expected to consider an Egyptian ceasefire proposal this evening, including whether Israel should unilaterally call a truce or consider withdrawing its troops.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, signed the agreement for Washington to provide technical and intelligence co-operation, as well as logistical support, for monitors on the Egypt-Gaza border – a move designed to address one of the principal Israeli demands: that any truce with Hamas includes measures to stop it from rearming by smuggling weapons.
Israel said the agreement would commit the US and Nato to track and intercept weapons shipments to Gaza from Iran or anywhere else. Rice said it was designed to ensure Gaza would "never again be used as a launching pad against Israeli cities". The US was seeking "a sustainable end to hostilities, rather than one that collapses in a few days or weeks".
The deal could lead to the reopening of Gaza's border with Egypt, a key Hamas demand. The Islamist group also wants Gaza's crossings into Israel reopened after three years of economic blockade. This is crucial to reviving the territory's economy but Israel is reluctant to allow it.
Egyptian officials have held talks in Cairo separately with Hamas and Israeli negotiators in an effort to overcome the main sticking points, including how long a ceasefire would last. Hamas is prepared to commit to a year and then consider renewing it. Israel wants it to be indefinite.
Some senior Israeli officials were optimistic. "The conditions have not come to fruition yet," said a security cabinet member, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. "But this could well happen late on Saturday and we can put this story behind us." There were conflicting messages from Hamas. Its exiled political leader, Khaled Meshal, told Arab leaders in Qatar that his organisation would not accept Israeli conditions and would continue to fight until Israel ended its attack.
Whatever the agreement, both sides will want to claim victory. Israel will say that an end to the rocket fire and a halt to weapons smuggling is what it set out to achieve with its attack.
Hamas will say it was fighting to lift the blockade and that any agreement to end the rocket attacks was voluntary because Israel failed to stop them. Hundreds were fired despite the Israel's reoccupation of swaths of the Gaza Strip and heavy bombardment. The group fired at least 13 rockets into Israel yesterday alone.
Israel may have gone a long way towards achieving another objective: to damage Hamas's control in Gaza with the long-term goal of toppling it from power.
The group has proven to be militarily weaker than it had threatened, inflicting relatively few casualties. When the fighting ends , many Gazans may wonder whether the price exacted by Israel was worth the confrontation. The physical damage to the Gaza Strip is estimated at $1.4bn (£954m). Western donors, not Israel, are likely to pick up the reconstruction bill. An Israeli tank shell killed two children in Beit Lahiya yesterday; and air strikes killed three other Palestinians.
Guardian
It's all about money. Now we have to patrol the Gaza boarder?? Egypt cant patrol their own boarder. What a deal kill some civilians and get a prize. I just hope President Obama tells these people to go fuck themselves.
How in the world are we supposed to help. Next thing you know hamas will attack the boarder suck us into this fight
posted by madtom at 9:49 PM
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