Palestinians and Israelis ready to resume ceasefire talks

Palestinians and Israelis have said that they are ready to resume indirect ceasefire talks should Cairo officially invite them, Anadolu news agency said.

Senior Islamic Jihad leader and member of the former Palestinian delegation to ceasefire talks in Cairo, Khalid Al-Batch, told Anadolu: “The Palestinian delegation does not mind resuming talks in Cairo if it was officially invited by the Egyptians, on the condition that Palestinian demands are met.”

He continued: “There is an agreement among the delegation members regarding the resumption of talks, which depend on whether Egypt officially invite us on the basis of meeting Palestinian demands, opening the crossings and ending the eight-year siege on Gaza.”

Regarding whether this contradicts Qatari or UN efforts in this regard, Al-Batch said: “We will not impede any efforts to stop the war on Gaza, but if there are UN efforts they have to recognise our right to freedom of movement without touching our resistance weapons.”

It has been reported that France, Germany and the UK have introduced a draft resolution for the United Nations Security Council calling for a permanent ceasefire and ending the blockade with EU monitored crossings.

The draft includes opening up Gaza crossings, the return of the Palestinian Authority to the territory, preventing Hamas from acquiring more arms and building more tunnels and assuring Israeli security demands.

Meanwhile, the spokeswoman of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Amira Oren told Anadolu: “Israel will not ignore the Egyptian efforts, which were supported and respected [by us]. If Egypt invited us to resume talks the Israeli side would accept the invitation on condition all sides are ready to regain quiet and guarantee a ceasefire.”

Oren continued speaking on the telephone: “It is impossible to talk under fire, but of course if there was a pledge to regain tranquillity there would be a response by the Israeli side to the Cairo invitation.”

It is worth mentioning that the Israeli occupation broke an expanded truce last Tuesday and claimed rockets were fired from Gaza. Hamas has denied the Israeli claims.