Gaza truce extended by a day

Israeli and Palestinian officials have agreed to extend the Gaza ceasefire for 24 hours following negotiations in Cairo.

The month-long war ended last Wednesday when Egypt secured a truce that was due to expire at 21:00 GMT on Monday. The Egyptian government has confirmed this extension and said that Palestinian and Israeli delegations have agreed to continue to negotiate for a permanent ceasefire.

 A senior Palestinian official said that the two sides have agreed on all but two points drafted by Egypt, including opening Gaza’s crossing to allow goods to flow through it more freely and extending Gaza’s maritime limits in the Mediterranean Sea.

However, the two sides have not yet reached an agreement on key issues.  Hamas wants to open a seaport and re-open an airport that was destroyed in earlier conflicts. Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said that these issues can only be dealt with at a later stage.

Palestinian negotiator Qais Abdul Karim said on Sunday that Israel is called for the disarming of Hamas and other Gazan groups.

“If they shoot at us, we will respond,” Livni told Israel Radio.

Israel also said that it must maintain control over Gaza’s crossings so as to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the enclave. Israel added said that building materials imported into Gaza could be used by Hamas to rebuild its tunnel network. Palestinians want the Israeli and Egyptian blockades of Gaza to close without preconditions, Karim said.  

Hamas has said that it will not give up its weapons.

Other issues not agreed upon include Palestinian requests for Israel to free Palestinian prisoners and Israeli requests for Hamas to hand over the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in the war, a Palestinian official said.

 Israel launched its offensive against Gaza on July 8. The Palestinian Health Ministry have said that 2,016 Palestinians, most of which were civilians have been killed. 64 Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians have also been killed. Middle East envoy Robert Serry said that the UN was ready to oversee the importation of building materials to Gaza after the “unprecedented amount of destruction” had caused “an unprecedented level of humanitarian needs”.

Serry aid that around 16,800 housing units in Gaza have been destroyed and that around 100 installations belonging to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees have been damaged in this recent conflict.