Israeli team 'pre-planned' decision to leave Cairo

The head of the Palestinian delegation to the ceasefire talks in Cairo, Azzam Al-Ahmad, said that Israel had made a “pre-planned decision to withdraw from the Cairo meeting” before the latest round of negotiations even started, Quds news agency reported.

During a brief news conference held in Cairo, Al-Ahmad said the Palestinian side has showed a “high degree of flexibility” for weeks, but the Israeli side “does not want any solutions”.

Al-Ahmad continued: “We hoped that the Israelis would respond to our demands, which were represented with only ten words, but they procrastinated for more than a week.”

Al-Ahmad noted that the Palestinian delegation was set to leave Cairo, but he did not consider this a withdrawal from the talks.

Israel recalled its delegation from Cairo on Tuesday, ending the talks.

Meanwhile, Al-Ahmad condemned the latest Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip, which, he said, came as a response to rockets launched from Gaza that did not harm anyone.