Israelis seek 15 year truce

The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth has published the conditions set out by negotiators for a ceasefire to end the current Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. The newspaper said that a senior security official arrived in Cairo from Israel on Sunday to discuss the Israeli government’s conditions with Egyptian officials.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli conditions are:

• A lull for a period of more than 15 years.
• An immediate end to arms smuggling and the transfer of weapons to Gaza.
• A cessation of rocket fire on the part of all armed Palestinian factions and an end to attacks on soldiers near the Gaza border.
• Israel to have the right to hunt down “terrorists” in the event of an attack or if it obtains information about an imminent attack.
• The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to remain open, but the crossings on the Gaza-Israel border to stay closed.
• Egypt’s politicians, headed by President Mohamed Morsi, to be the guarantors of any ceasefire agreement, and not the Egyptian security establishment.

Palestinian negotiators have set the following conditions:

• Israel to lift its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
• The international community to be the guarantor of the ceasefire.
• A cessation of targeted killings by Israel.
• An end to cross-border attacks by the Israeli forces against Palestinians in Gaza.
• An end to attacks against fishermen off the Gaza coast.

Political analyst Mahmoud Sarsour said that he would be surprised if the Palestinians accept Israel’s conditions for a truce.

Other media reports in Israel claim that if Hamas does not agree on their conditions within 48 to 72 hours, the Israelis will begin a ground invasion which will last until they overthrow the elected government in Gaza.