It has been two days since Hamas resumed missile attacks on Israel and Israel fired back on the launch sites and at other Hamas targets. It seemed incomprehensible why Hamas resumed firing once they had been so badly beaten by the Israelis. On its part, Israel withdrew its negotiators from talks in Egypt for a further cease fire once Hamas started firing again. The Israelis made clear that they were prepared for both a cease fire and further talks, but that Israel would not negotiate while Hamas was firing missiles at Israeli civilians.
About an hour ago, news came out that indicates that Hamas has finally come to understand that it will not gain anything from continued rocket fire other than to watch as more and more Hamas locations are hit by the Israeli air force. Here is the news reported by the Jerusalem Post:
Even as Hamas threatens to renew rocket fire against Israel’s most populous areas in the center of the country in response to what it says is Jerusalem’s “obstinacy” in cease-fire negotiations, Egyptian sources who are intimately familiar with the discussions are quoted by Arab media sources as saying that the sides have reached verbal agreements on a truce that would go into effect Saturday evening.
“The launching of rockets from the Gaza Strip toward Israel and the Israeli air force strikes in response to those rockets will cease completely [Saturday evening] in parallel with the arrival of the Israeli delegation to the talks in Cairo and the continuation of negotiations toward a permanent cease-fire,” sources told the Palestinian daily Al-Quds.
The Egyptian government deserves credit for brokering this cease fire (if it happens). Unlike John Kerry who ran around desperate for an agreement no matter what the terms, Egypt understood that by standing firm with Hamas, the leaders of Hamas would quickly understand that they had nothing to gain and no negotiating leverage. Kerry, with all of his conditions and accommodations to meet Hamas demands, just helped prolong the fighting.
Let's hope this report from the JPost is correct.
About an hour ago, news came out that indicates that Hamas has finally come to understand that it will not gain anything from continued rocket fire other than to watch as more and more Hamas locations are hit by the Israeli air force. Here is the news reported by the Jerusalem Post:
Even as Hamas threatens to renew rocket fire against Israel’s most populous areas in the center of the country in response to what it says is Jerusalem’s “obstinacy” in cease-fire negotiations, Egyptian sources who are intimately familiar with the discussions are quoted by Arab media sources as saying that the sides have reached verbal agreements on a truce that would go into effect Saturday evening.
“The launching of rockets from the Gaza Strip toward Israel and the Israeli air force strikes in response to those rockets will cease completely [Saturday evening] in parallel with the arrival of the Israeli delegation to the talks in Cairo and the continuation of negotiations toward a permanent cease-fire,” sources told the Palestinian daily Al-Quds.
The Egyptian government deserves credit for brokering this cease fire (if it happens). Unlike John Kerry who ran around desperate for an agreement no matter what the terms, Egypt understood that by standing firm with Hamas, the leaders of Hamas would quickly understand that they had nothing to gain and no negotiating leverage. Kerry, with all of his conditions and accommodations to meet Hamas demands, just helped prolong the fighting.
Let's hope this report from the JPost is correct.
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