Egypt is hopeful that a Gaza truce accord between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas can be reached in the next few days, foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said yesterday.
“There are positive signs that in the next few days we will reach an understanding on a truce and a partial reopening of crossing points [into Gaza],” Zaki said.
Egypt has been mediating indirect talks for a lasting truce since the end of Israel’s massive 22-day onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which killed at least 1,330 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
Fighting ended when both Israel and the Gaza Strip’s rulers called separate ceasefires on Jan. 18.
However, the fragile calm has been tested by Israeli air strikes and Palestinian rocket attacks.
On Saturday, a spokesman for Hamas said it expected an agreement with Israel on the reopening of border crossings into the Gaza Strip “within the next few days.”
Israeli and Palestinian officials have been shuttling to Cairo for talks with Egypt’s intelligence chief and mediator, Omar Suleiman, hoping for a truce deal with just two days until Israel’s election.
A Hamas delegation left Cairo on Saturday for talks on the ceasefire and Zaki said the officials would return today.
Israel, which controls all border crossings except Rafah, which is managed by Egypt, has kept the densely populated strip closed to all but essential supplies since June 2007 when Hamas seized power, ousting forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Egypt closed Rafah on Thursday, after opening it to aid and to Palestinians who were wounded during the war. Egypt has refused to permanently open the crossing in the absence of EU monitors and Abbas’ representatives.
Hamas said it was seeking clarifications on an Israeli offer to allow between 70 percent and 80 percent of goods through its crossings into Gaza, barring those it says could be used to make weapons.
Besides opening Gaza’s borders, Egypt’s truce plan also calls for Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah to reconcile and form a government that would be acceptable to the international community.
Hamas has called in the past for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), considered by many in the international community as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and which dominates the Palestinian Authority, to be replaced.
But Mahmud Zahar, thought to be Hamas’ overall leader in the Palestinian territories, told Al-Jazeera television yesterday that his group wanted changes to the PLO’s program, not its structure.
“We want to preserve the structure of the PLO, but not its political program, of which 28 clauses were cancelled” to conform with the 1993 Oslo accords, he said.
The accords, which paved the way for the creation of the Palestinian Authority, removed clauses in the PLO charter that called the state of Israel invalid because it was created by force on Palestinian soil.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
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