Israel accepts truce ‘principles’
Israel has agreed "on the principles" of a ceasefire proposal, raising hopes of an end to its conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza.
"The challenge now is to get the details to match the principles," Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said there were "positive signs but no agreement yet".
The UN Security Council in New York has resumed discussions on the proposal, put forward by France and Egypt.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US supported the Franco-Egyptian initiative and that she had spoken to Arab ministers and the Israelis about moving forward on it.
She added that the US did not want a ceasefire that would return Israel and the Palestinians to the "status quo" preceding the conflict.
Smuggling
Israel and Hamas have been under pressure to accept a diplomatic solution to the conflict, which began on 27 December.
Israel wants to stop rocket attacks on southern Israel and to stop Hamas smuggling weapons into Gaza via Egypt, while Hamas says any ceasefire deal must include an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza.
Israel said it was not sure how long the diplomatic process would take and that a working arms embargo on Hamas was needed.
BBC world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds says Israel has always said that it will accept an outcome under which rockets and smuggling are stopped – but there is a potentially long gap between accepting principles and applying practice.
Security sources have confirmed that senior Israeli defence official Amos Gilad will travel to Cairo on Thursday to discuss ceasefire options.
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected in Cairo a day later for talks.
In a statement released on Wednesday, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed "the acceptance by Israel and the Palestinian Authority" of the French-Egyptian ceasefire plan. The statement did not mention Hamas.
Tony Blair, Middle East envoy for the Quartet of the UN, US, Russia and EU, told the BBC he was hopeful that the ceasefire proposal would succeed.
The building blocks of a plan had been agreed but the details had still to be worked out, he said, which would take hard work over the coming days.
The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen on the Israel-Gaza boundary says the end may not be in sight yet, but there are now indications of what the two sides want from a ceasefire.
A compromise on securing Egypt’s border with Gaza, stopping the movement of weapons, and on opening border crossings between Israel and Gaza could give both Israel and Hamas something tangible, our correspondent says.
But the problem from Israel’s point of view is that Hamas would then be able to say that Palestinian resistance had forced Israel to lift the siege of Gaza, our correspondent adds, which is precisely what Israel – which seeks a severely weakened Hamas – does not want.
Blockade
The diplomatic developments came as Israel halted military operations in Gaza for three hours to create "humanitarian corridors" for supplies and fuel.
The lull was the first of what an Israeli spokesman said would be a daily ceasefire to allow Gazans to "get medical attention, get supplies… whatever they need".
News agencies reported that Gaza residents had rushed out into the streets during the lull to stock up on food and visit relatives in hospital.
A Hamas spokesman said that the group would not launch any missiles at Israeli targets during the lull.
Israel has been criticised by aid agencies who have warned of a mounting humanitarian crisis for the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, who are unable to escape from the conflict because of Israel’s blockade.
Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the UN relief agency Unwra, said the move did not go far enough.
"When you are trying to feed 750,000 people a day in Gaza as we are, you need a permanent ceasefire. You can’t do that in a three-hour window," he said.
The World Bank also warned on Wednesday of a looming public health crisis in Gaza because of damage to its sewage system and a shortage of clean drinking water.
Israel’s decision to facilitate "humanitarian corridors" follows one of the deadliest days since the offensive began last month, with more than 130 people killed on Tuesday.
Palestinian health officials say at least 683 Palestinians have been killed and more than 3,085 injured since Israel began its offensive 12 days ago, according to the UN’s humanitarian agency.
Since the start of its military operation in Gaza, Israel has lost seven soldiers on the ground.
Militants have also launched hundreds of rockets into Israel, killing four people.
Casualty claims in Gaza cannot be independently verified.
Israel is refusing to let international journalists into Gaza, despite a supreme court ruling to allow a limited number of reporters to enter the territory.
Story from BBC NEWS
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- Israel vows ‘long’ Gaza campaign
- Israeli troops deepen push into Gaza
- Fighting erupts as Israeli troops move into Gaza
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Posted by Axxa News Team
on Jan 7 2009. Filed under News.
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