Israel and Egypt are carrying on discussions in Cairo that could lead to the further easing of restrictions on the Gaza Strip and prevent a swift rearming of Hamas, an Israeli government official confirmed, according to The Jerusalem Post.
A day earlier, former Mossad director Efraim Halevy said at the Bar-Ilan University Ambassadors’ Forum that he believed Israel was beginning to forge an official policy in Gaza that would become clear after the January 22 election.
November’s eight-day Operation Pillar of Defense, which the IDF launched in response to Hamas rocket attacks, ended with an amorphous Egyptian-brokered cease-fire whereby Israel pledged to “stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip,” and Hamas agreed that “all Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel, including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.”
According to the text of the agreement – the first time Israel has committed to anything in writing with Hamas – “opening the [Gaza] crossings and facilitating the movements of people and transfer of goods and refraining from restricting residents’ free movements and targeting residents in border areas and procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the cease-fire.”
Talks to implement the agreement began immediately with Egyptian mediation.
Halevy said that while few details were known about the agreement or about “proximity talks” apparently under way, both sides – “Israel and whoever we are negotiating with” – had an interest in very little information coming out regarding what exactly was being discussed and agreed upon.
“Even to this day little is known as to who is negotiating on whose side, and what the role of the Egyptians is,” he said.
Nevertheless, Halevy said, “you can see the beginnings of a policy emerging. We are allowing certain things in Gaza. We are treating the people in Gaza in a slightly different way than we have up to now.”
