We continue to talk. Talks in Cairo are continuing even now, in an attempt to reach a long-term ceasefire agreement.<\/p>\r\n
Last night, after Egyptian and international pressure, the Palestinian delegation agreed to another temporary ceasefire, with Hamas prepared for an additional 72 hours, but the Israeli delegation opposed this, claiming that the truce would end on Saturday, so it was decided that the ceasefire would last for five more days.<\/p>\r\n
Hamas has threatened in recent days that it will not agree to another ceasefire, but Egyptian intelligence officials, who are conducting the talks in Egypt, have put a lot of pressure on the Palestinian delegation, and suggested that they announce that the delegations are "going for consultations," but not officially and definitively ending the negotiations.<\/p>\r\n
An Israeli political official today accused Hamas' political bureau chief, Khaled Meshaal, of preventing a permanent agreement from being reached.<\/p>\r\n
According to him, Meshaal "was and remains the disruptive and disturbing factor that undermines order in Cairo.".<\/p>\r\n
The source said that the Israeli delegation that returned to Israel last night reported that the parties had almost reached an agreement, but Mashal prevented this for various reasons.<\/p>\r\n
As mentioned, even at this time, the talks in Cairo are continuing, but there is still no breakthrough in the talks. Israel is not willing to lift the blockade on Gaza without disarming Gaza and disarming Hamas, which would in fact be a death blow to Hamas, and it cannot agree to it.<\/p>\r\n
\""If Hamas does not maintain the ceasefire, we are ready to respond"\"<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Defense Minister Moshe (Bogi) Ya'alon today hosted New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who arrived for a visit of solidarity with the State of Israel, in his office in Kirya in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\r\n Ya'alon showed members of the American delegation videos documenting Hamas' use of civilians and civilian facilities to fire on Israel, as well as the network of terror tunnels that Hamas terrorists dug into Israeli territory.<\/p>\r\n Ya'alon told his guest, "It was unclear whether we could hold the meeting in the morning due to the changes in the situation. Last night was a clear example of how the terrorists operate. The Palestinian delegation in Cairo asked last night, around 11 p.m., to extend the ceasefire.".<\/p>\r\n The Defense Minister spoke about the difficulties in the negotiations, "They have many difficulties within the delegation, it's a delegation with at least five heads, which includes the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and various factions of Hamas. They asked to extend the ceasefire, and we agreed.".<\/span><\/p>\r\n \""A short time later, we were hit by six rockets. Our air force responded immediately. Until now, since around 1 a.m. there has been quiet, a ceasefire. If they intend to uphold it? Good. If not, we are ready to respond. Deal with it.".<\/p>\r\n \""We are doing everything we can to avoid harming uninvolved civilians," Ya'alon said, referring to international criticism and the UN investigation committee, "but we are being criticized. We now have to deal with various international committees. We have not only a military challenge but also a moral challenge, but we continue to be criticized."\"<\/p>\r\n \""In the year before Operation Protective Edge, we uncovered four terror tunnels. That's why I did not allow cement to enter the Strip, and I was criticized for that by the UN. They demanded that I allow cement to enter, but I explained that when they use cement to build terror tunnels against us, I do not intend to allow cement to enter the Strip. Plain and simple," Ya'alon declared.<\/p>\r\n Meanwhile, at 10:00 this morning, an alarm was sounded in the Eshkol Regional Council. Initially, the police claimed that rockets were indeed fired towards Israeli territory and fell in open areas, contrary to the IDF spokesman who said that it was a false alarm. Shortly afterwards, the police also issued a statement that it was indeed a false alarm.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Talks in Cairo continue in an attempt to reach a permanent ceasefire, but there is still no breakthrough \u2022 An Israeli political source accuses Khaled Meshaal of torpedoing the possibility of reaching a permanent agreement \u2022 Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon commented on the negotiations and said: "They have many difficulties within the delegation, it is a delegation with at least five heads" \u2022 "We are prepared to respond if they violate the ceasefire"\"","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n