By Xinhua,
Cairo : A senior Israeli defense official arrived in Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and various Palestinian groups.
Amos Gilad, head of the Political-Military Bureau of the Israeli Defense Ministry, will hold talks with Egyptian mediators on means to reach an Israeli-Palestinian truce, the Egyptian official MENA news agency reported.
According to earlier report, Gilad is expected to meet Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has been mediating between Israel and the Palestinian groups including Hamas on the ceasefire talks.
Egypt has been trying to broker a truce between the Palestinian groups and Israel to end their conflicts that may wreck U.S.-backed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), but no tangible results have been reached up to now.
On Saturday, Hamas said Israel’s responses to the Egyptian offer for a ceasefire deal in Gaza were not encouraging.
Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said the efforts to realize a lull collides with Israeli obstacles, adding the Israelis want “a free calmness, which does not include opening the crossings and breaking the siege.”
Hamas is prepared to accept Israel’s demand that the ceasefire begin first in Gaza and then in the West Bank, but opposes accelerating the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held hostage by Palestinian militants for about two years, as part of the deal.
Israel wants to link Shalit’s release with the opening of the Rafah crossing and implementation of the truce, but Hamas insists that these carry separate price tags.