Egypt leading efforts to achieve Israel-Hamas truce

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Cairo is leading intense efforts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip. Representatives of more than five Palestinian militant factions in the Gaza Strip including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, headed to Cairo over the past few days for talks with Egyptian officials over the matter.

Political analysts say that the relative calm maintained for several days between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza is an introduction for stabilizing the Cairo-led efforts between all parties. If reached, the ceasefire would be followed by serious efforts involving the reconstruction of Gaza, and eventually reaching a prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

Sami Abu Mdalala, a leader of the left-wing Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) engaged in the Cairo talks, confirmed that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has already reached advanced stages, but said that any ceasefire depends on Israel's military behavior toward Gaza. "As Palestinian factions, we will not commit to a ceasefire which Israel violates," Abu Mdalala said for CGTN.

Members of the Hamas military are seen with their weapons during a ceremony to pay tribute to the the servicemen who lost their lives from the Israeli air strikes in Gaza, August 13, 2108. /VCG Photo

Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza are following Israeli news of an Egypt-mediated truce between Israel and Hamas with enthusiasm, hoping that Cairo would broker a broad one to put away fears of a possible war in Gaza, and pave the way for an economic boost in the strip that has been suffering a tightened Israeli blockade for over a decade.

Member of the Palestinian Business Men Association in Gaza Samir Ali, said that he supports any agreement that would guarantee a peaceful and secure life to the Palestinian people. "We are tired of all what is going on, we need the crossings to open, we need the blockade to be lifted, so that we improve our work and carry on," Ali said.

On Wednesday, Israel's defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing into the Gaza Strip, whose main purpose is the transit of industrial and commercial goods into the coastal territory. He also announced extending the permitted fishing zone for Gaza fishermen from three to nine nautical miles .

Omar Shaaban is the director of the Pal Think Association for Strategic Studies, August 16, 2018. /CGTN Photo

Israel is trying to impose a new policy in Gaza. Its strategy indicates to the rulers and the people of Gaza that the calm will be met by economic ease, and a gradual lifting of the blockade.

Director of the Pal Think Association for Strategic Studies, Omar Shaaban said the quiet between Israel and Hamas is not enough. "Ending the division between Hamas and Fatah, and enabling the Palestinian Authority to take its duties in Gaza is a must for the success of any ceasefire.

In this case only, Shaaban said, the UN and the international community can fund for the rehabilitation of Gaza infrastructure and improving the water and power crises.

Regional powers in the Middle East, mainly Egypt, as well as the UN, are leading big efforts to benefit from the relative quiet maintained over the past few days on the Gaza border.

From their point of view, the calm is the key to evade the exploding situation between Israel and the militant Palestinian factions in Gaza, reaching a long-term truce, and resolve all the suspended issues, on top of them, the Israeli citizens in Hamas's captivity.